Volunteer Spotlight: Sallie Simpson

Sallie Simpson helps with the Farm Stand most Saturdays and serves as culinary instructor for the Cooking Matters classes that are held at Urban Ministries. “Every person in the class realized tangible improvement by the end of the class... one of the doctors in the Open Door Clinic ...told me that the class would practically dance down the hall as they left the class each day!”

Tell us about your first-ever time volunteering with IFFS.

It was a cold, sleeting day in February – we were raking rocks out of a newly plowed field and spreading mulch. Everyone was so nice and we laughed so much that I decided to keep coming back!

Describe a volunteer moment that felt very rewarding.

Last spring I co-led a Cooking Matters class at Urban Ministries with Ana Cardia, and we had such a motivated class – each participant had been sent to class by their doctor for diet-related conditions. Every person in the class realized tangible improvement by the end of the class and one of the doctors in the Open Door Clinic at Urban Ministries told me that the class would practically dance down the hall as they left the class each day!

What would you say to recruit a friend to volunteer with IFFS?I would tell people that this is a great place to volunteer – the people are wonderful to work with. There is a lot of work, and lots of fun as well!