This year saw 642 active volunteers at Sustainable Food Center. That’s right. SIX HUNDRED AND FOURTY TWO volunteers donated their time to being in the office, at the SFC Farmers’ Markets, conducting nutritional demonstrations, and so much more.

How do we recognize these amazing folks? We throw an appreciation party! This October was our 6th Annual Volunteer Appreciation. Over Black Star Co-op appetizers, beer, and wine, 200 volunteers mixed, mingled, and were showered with “thank yous.” This year’s photo booth was a hit and brought together volunteers from various activities and tasks. Make sure you check out the photos!

Volunteers work tirelessly throughout the year to keep SFC’s mission momentum moving forward. With 30-50 volunteers EVERY week, we’ve got folks all over town doing all sorts of activities: every volunteer helps us all move forward.

For all the folks that made it to the celebration, and to those that sadly couldn’t join us: we say thank you. I say it to myself every day, we say it at every staff meeting, and we say it to you: SFC absolutely positively could not do what we do without you. If one of us forgets to tell you that after your next shift, know that we are thinking it!

This year we were honored to give all of our active volunteers a Volunteer Appreciation Certificate (if you haven’t received yours yet, check the mail!). Those who volunteered regularly in 2013 (a minimum of 40 hours), received a gift basket made up completely of SFC Farmers’ Market goods. Our vendors, farmers, staff, and all want to make sure you each know how much we appreciate you.

We also had the privilege of giving a few superstars an extra something: Erica Valenzuela, Philip Keil, Michelle Moore, and Jose Rodriguez. These folks spent hundreds of hours in 2013 dedicating time, energy, and enthusiasm to furthering SFC’s mission. Not far behind are superstar volunteers Trent, Blanca, Silvia, Yoshi, Emily B, and so many more who volunteer week after week after week after week.

I say it all the time but it never ceases to be true: SFC has the BEST volunteers around. Each task and assignment you do helps us reach our goal of creating a food secure community. You each amaze me with your dedication to providing Central Texans with local, sustainable, and affordable food.

What a positive message you bring to each of us day in and day out: you reassure us that together we can create a more sustainable community through food. You remind us that people can succeed if we work together and strive for a more just food system.

Here’s to each of you and another year together!

Thank you to the absolutely best and most amazing volunteers an organization could ask for.

From each of us at SFC, we appreciate YOU.