Irene’s Full Story
Irene Glowinski has a PhD in pharmacology and a background in the field of infectious diseases. After retiring from an exemplary career in public service, Irene began to volunteer at Food & Friends. Right now, we only have 1/3 of the volunteers that we did pre-pandemic, so volunteers like Irene are performing mission-critical work each day. She sat down with us to share her thoughts on the experience so far:
Someone told me last week that Food & Friends delivered 1.25 million meals last year. I did that calculation in my head, and that comes out to 25,000 meals per week. That is phenomenal, military-level logistics. What I have seen as a volunteer here blows me away. Everything in the kitchen is smooth, and everything operates efficiently.
About ten years ago, I volunteered with Food & Friends to deliver meals through the University of Michigan alumni club. I did it with a colleague of mine because we were both Michigan graduates. We delivered the meals together, and that is how I was introduced to Food & Friends. But then I got promoted to a demanding job and could not do it anymore.
My kids had left home and I retired; I knew I wanted to do something related to food. I am a foodie, I love restaurants, and I love cooking. It is my passion and I decided to put that into practice. I did not know much about the volume, the magnitude, or any of the logistics at Food & Friends. I did not know that you do 12 different medically tailored meal plans. When I learned that, I was impressed by the complexity.
My kids will tell you a funny story about me. When I go into Starbucks sometimes, I watch the inefficiency and want to reorganize the place. I told my daughter after one week that Food & Friends was one of the few places where I did not feel like I needed to reorganize to make it more efficient. The Groceries-to-Go team are so good at what they do, the volume they put out is incredible, and the people I work with are so nice.
Just before I came downstairs today, we were making protein packs of frozen chicken, turkey burgers, and fish. People are getting huge quantities of healthy food they do not otherwise have access to. That is phenomenal. I know from looking at the labels on the bags that there are people with conditions such as AIDS, diabetes, kidney failure, and everyone gets a different kind of meal. There is no other place, I think, where they can have that. This is their weekly food, their weekly sustenance.
But back to my story of why I came here: I had a very high-pressure job with a lot of responsibility for many years. I was the Deputy Director of a large division at the National Institutes of Health with 200 people, and we distributed $1.6 billion in grant and contract funds every year. I was the Chief Operating Officer. I did that for 19 years. I have been involved in many community initiatives, but when I finally retired, I realized I did not want any big responsibilities. I did not want anyone reporting to me. I wanted to be able to do something that was meaningful, that could make a difference in someone else’s life. I have found that here.
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Volunteer Irene Glowinski and Leonard Caldwell in the Food & Friends kitchen[/caption]