By Lisa Haynes
Summer 2021
Dennis, Brendan, and Stephanie.
"I feel like I do a small part to help nourish my community and bring smiles to the clients’ faces."
We are immensely grateful for the support we receive from all our volunteers; we couldn’t do this work without you.
This month we are highlighting Dennis, Brendan, and Stephanie Huang!
Dennis became involved with the Issaquah Food & Clothing Bank in March 2020, at the start of the pandemic. He volunteered at the emergency drive-thru distribution, distinguishing himself as a lead role right from the get-go. In November of last year, he volunteered more frequently and recruited his wife, Stephanie, and son, Brendan to join as volunteers.
When asked about why he got involved with volunteering he said, "I’ve known that food insecurity is the #1 worry for many families in the U.S. that people don’t talk about. But when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, it really brought this issue to light for many of us that don’t have to worry about how get our next meal."
Dennis and Brendan can often be found restocking the grocery store since we moved operations indoors. Dennis also enjoys running the carts, being the greeter or doing check-in, as this gives him an opportunity to interact with the shoppers. Dennis and Stephanie also assist with Mandarin translation which is extremely helpful and provides a more informed and positive shopping experience for our Mandarin speaking shoppers.
There are many reasons Dennis enjoys being a volunteer, such as the monthly volunteer newsletter and Zoom information meetings, but what truly keeps him coming back is the "thank you or smile from the clients".
Not only are they stellar volunteers, but the Huang family have been donating to food banks for many years. Dennis also volunteers at Brendan’s Chinese school on the weekends and helps with security planning, traffic management, IT and audio/video for all assemblies and school activities. He is also the manager for his boys soccer team. All this and a full-time job! For fun, Dennis likes to ski and ride bikes. He has ridden the Seattle to Portland bike ride (STP) five times! He also lists cooking as a hobby and has learned to bake bread during the pandemic. However, his favorite thing of all is to watch his boys play soccer.
When discussing the future of the Issaquah Food & Clothing Bank, Dennis hopes that we continue to serve our community "with an open heart and an open mind". He thinks it would be great to see the food bank move into a bigger and more up-to-date facility but is still "amazed and appreciative of the tremendous work the staff and volunteers do, given the limited space and the increased demands of the pandemic".
We are truly thankful for the Huang family. They jump in and do anything they’re asked, all with a positive attitudes! They are fun, reliable, and hardworking (sometimes we even have to ask Dennis to stop and take a break!).
Dennis summarizes the importance volunteering has to his family: "We’ve lived in Issaquah/Sammamish for over 20 years, but we’ve never felt more a part of this community than we did this past year after we started volunteering at ICFB".