Labor Day is a day when we recognize the hard work and contributions of working people across our country. At COPCP, we also want to take this moment to recognize a group whose work means so much to us and often happens quietly behind the scenes: 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐫𝐬.
They are truly the heart of COPCP.
Every food distribution, every patrol, every community event, every family assisted and every call for help answered happens because someone made the decision to give their time to someone else.
Our volunteers have jobs. They go to school. They have families, responsibilities and long days of their own. Yet week after week, they still show up.
Sometimes that means coming straight from work and putting in several more hours serving the community. Sometimes it means giving up an evening or weekend with family to patrol our streets or help at an event. Sometimes it means arriving at the food pantry around noon and still being there at 9 PM because trucks were delayed and hundreds of neighbors were depending on us.
They have worked through freezing winters, summer heat and pouring rain. They have stayed when things became difficult. They have dealt with frustration, disrespect and, at times, behavior that no volunteer should ever have to endure. And still, they come back.
Not because they are getting paid. They aren’t.
𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞.
Since 2020, everything COPCP has accomplished has been built on people willing to step forward and serve their neighbors. Without our volunteers, there is no patrol. There is no pantry. There are no giveaways, events or community assistance. There is no COPCP.
There are sacrifices behind this work that most people will never see. Time away from family. Plans changed. Long days made longer. Moments when our volunteers could have been somewhere else, but chose to be here for their community.
To every COPCP volunteer, past and present: 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮.