Volunteers are essential to our work at The Food Bank of Waterloo Region and have a crucial role in all aspects of our operations. From accepting community donations and sorting food to packing hampers and delivering food to the 120+ programs and agencies within the Community Food Assistance Network, we couldn’t do our work without volunteers.

New this year to our incredible team of volunteers is Diego Vargas-Avila. Diego recently moved to Waterloo region with his partner and enjoys finding ways to give back to this community that they’ve both found to be so warm and welcoming. In addition to making a monthly monetary donation to The Food Bank through EAT 365, our monthly giving program, Diego also volunteers in our distribution centre, sorting food donations and packing orders for our Network partners.

“I had made food donations in the past but wanted to contribute a little more directly this year to begin to pay back the goodwill I received when I first arrived in Canada,” Diego explains.

Diego Vargas-Avila is pictured at The Food Bank.

In 2002, Diego’s family immigrated to Canada as refugees.

“We faced many challenges in an unfamiliar country,” Diego remembers. “Before my parents were able to find stable employment, they found work in the summer picking fruit which had the added benefit of providing us with fresh, cheap, and nutritious food. It was during our first fall and winter, after the harvest, when they grew concerned.”

Fortunately, a family friend told them about a local food assistance program that they could access. Diego was only four or five years old when they first received support from the program. He doesn’t recall much from that first visit, but he does remember seeing and experiencing kindness.

“Seeing all of these strangers lending a hand to people they had never met before, to make sure they were provided assistance in a way that respected their dignity, left me with a lasting impact and understanding of the generosity and compassion of Canadians,” Diego says. “From the greeters who welcomed us with warm smiles, the volunteers who took time to explain to my mother how she might use these unfamiliar food products and ingredients, to the social workers who introduced my family to additional support resources. Everyone I met contributed to what it meant to me to be part of a community in this incredible country.”

Diego’s family accessed food assistance for about two years. They were grateful that they were able to receive support when they needed it.

“My foggy memories of the food bank reminded me how crucial it was for us as a family to receive that support and I’d like to provide that support, in some small part, to other families in our community,” Diego says. “Volunteering with The Food Bank is a welcome reminder that real people in our community care for each other and will continue to do so as people ought to, and I think that’s truly beautiful and worth celebrating.”

Are you interested in volunteering? Visit our website to learn more about the different volunteer roles and how you can help people in our community access the food they need.