HEFC Hero June 2025 Princess Olagunju

By Lynn Sherwood

Our Hero for June, Princess Olagunju, has been volunteering at HEFC since March.  She lives in the area and has, herself, been coming to HEFC for emergency food supplies on occasion, especially since she decided to go back to university, where she is now in her second year working towards a degree in philosophy at Carleton University. 

In addition to her full-time university studies, she is working part time as a busser/server in a restaurant and is also volunteering at HEFC as a way to give back. She helps by portioning bulk dry goods such as lentils, oatmeal and rice into smaller sizes for distribution.  Recently she has been helping out at the front counter and has more opportunities to appreciate the diversity of folks coming for assistance. She really enjoys her work at HEFC and has met many interesting people there. 

She had a message for readers. People should know that it is better to “get out of yourself” and get involved with other people, that giving back to the community makes you feel better.  She says that if you do not have money to share with others, you should give your time and energy and find out what is going on in the community.

The original foodbank concept was that extra food could be ‘banked” and shared with those who were food insecure, and that these folks could give back when they were in a more stable situation.   At HEFC we have many volunteers who, like Princess, have at times come to us for food themselves.  They understand the challenges of hand-to-mouth survival and want to give back when they are able. Princess is a great example of the validity of this concept.

See the full article in the June 2025 edition of the Vistas News https://vistas-news.ca/ for the full article