A Lifetime of Service: The Heartbeat of Food for Hope
Guest Blog by Tiffany Bauder
Hello! I’m Tiffany Bauder, and I’ve had the privilege of serving as the Director of Community Engagement at Food for Hope for the past three and a half years. In my role, I focus on finding ways for our community to engage with and support Food for Hope’s mission of providing nutritional support to students and families across Adams County. I'm excited to be your guest blogger for July and to share how volunteers of all ages help bring our mission to life.
At Food for Hope, we often say that volunteers are the heartbeat of our organization—and we mean it. During the 2024–2025 school year alone, our volunteers contributed over 4,000 hours of service. That’s the equivalent of more than $140,000 in impact based on national volunteer hour values. But their real value goes far beyond numbers. Our volunteers represent every age and stage of life, and together they show us what it means to build community through service.
Since our mission is focused on kids, we’re thrilled to offer ways for even the youngest members of our community to get involved. We welcome volunteers as young as five years old to help pack our weekend food bags, which are distributed to students to ensure they have enough to eat when school meals aren’t available. These moments plant seeds—introducing children to the joy of helping others and showing them that their time and efforts matter. Many of the schools and youth organizations we partner with have embraced the importance of cultivating a spirit of service, and we are always impressed with their positive attitude and willingness to take on any task, even trash duty, with a smile.
As students grow, so do their opportunities. We love working with our junior and senior high students, especially during our community food drives in partnership with local Kroger stores. These events give teens the chance to develop real-world communication skills, engage with neighbors, and share our mission. It’s a powerful way for them to step outside the classroom and into the community.
Then there are the young adults—many of whom are balancing school, work, and life—but still find time to make a difference. Every week, these dedicated volunteers pick up packed bags and snacks, load them into their vehicles, and deliver them across Adams County, all before heading into work. This year the winner of our Schmitz Service Award was a young man in this category. The commitment of every volunteer in this group inspires us daily.
Families also find ways to serve together—whether it's packing weekend food bags or coming in during school breaks to help restock school pantries across the county. For many, it becomes a meaningful family tradition, modeling for children what it looks like to serve with compassion.
Our corporate partners play an incredible role as well. Groups from local businesses spend full days with us, helping to sort, inventory, and process thousands of pounds of food for distribution. Others roll up their sleeves for special projects like deep cleaning pantry spaces or setting up new food pantry locations. One amazing example is Murphy Company, which donated countless hours and equipment to install a new HVAC system in our warehouse—an enormous gift that allows us to keep food at optimal temperatures all year long.
And then, there’s one of our most cherished volunteer groups—our older adults. Many of them have spent their lives working in or around the schools we now serve. Today, they make up the core of our food pantry support team. These volunteers don’t just hand out food—they offer kindness, encouragement, and often, a listening ear. They become a familiar face to students and families, week after week.
One of my favorite stories is about Richard Bluhm. In the early 1990s, I was a student at Thornton High School—now one of the schools we serve. Mr. Bluhm was one of the history and government teachers back then. And now, decades later, you’ll still find him serving faithfully in an Adams 12 food pantry. He’s usually there with a handful of Matchbox cars in his pocket to share with the kids who come in to shop with their families. His story is just one example of a lifetime of service—how one person’s ongoing presence can create lasting impact in a community.
At every stage of life, our volunteers make a difference. Their willingness to show up, to care, and to serve is what allows Food for Hope to reach far beyond what our small staff could ever accomplish on our own. Whether you’re five or eighty-five, there is a place for you here.
Thank you to every single person who has given their time, energy, and heart to help us provide hope through food. You are the reason we can do what we do—and we are deeply grateful.
Interested in volunteering? Learn more and get involved at www.foodforhope.net.
