We Celebrate Versatile Volunteer Kevin Tyree

Here's a photo Kevin provided in documenting a trip back and forth to the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts in Hatfield.

Since the February 2013, Kevin Tyree has been an invaluable volunteer with the Friendship Center Food Pantry. Over the years he has been very involved in food transportation, picking up a rented truck and driving either to the local depot in Pittsfield or directly to the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts in Hatfield, roughly a 100-mile round trip. Then after helping unloaded the truck he would return it to the rental agency.

For several years, he drove the truck on Tuesdays the great majority of the time. We could not have thrived as a food operation during this time without his help. He has ceased being involved in weekly food transportation, but fortunately he continues to help in other ways.

For instance, Kevin also has been a key presence during the annual Letter Carrier Food Drive during the second Saturday in May — not only helping on the Saturday itself but in setting up the sorting space downtown and in transporting the collected food over to the Friendship Center in stages.

 Here's photo I took of Kevin  a few years ago.

Kevin is a regular presence helping out at the food pantry during the morning and early afternoon session on Wednesday.. In the past he has helped in the evening at the Eagle Street Room with the setup and putting away of tables and cleanup. He has also over the years helped with various mechanical and technical aspects, such as when we changed and upgrades our door locks and putting new wheels on one of our hand carts. He's also taken photos of our activities from time to time.

Kevin is good with computers and often helps out during morning session when there’s a problem with the sign-in computer. In fact, just this past Saturday Kevin came down to pick up a start-up disk in an effort to get our new sign-in computer up and running properly.

Kevin is a cheerful and helpful presence, who cares very much about what we do and about the friends we serve. We greatly appreciate who he is and all he does.

Here's a photo of our celebration of the birthday of another stalwart volunteer, Lois Hescock. That's Kevin standing behind her in his cowboy hat. We have the best volunteers in the non-profit world.

~ Mark Rondeau