Andrea began volunteering at Bendigo Foodshare in early  2021, where she undertook some fruit and vegetable sorting shifts.  When  Covid restrictions eased in November 2021Andrea joined the Bendigo Foodshare Volunteer Coordinator Team and continues to enjoy her morning shift once a week.

Her role fulfills a variety of tasks, but primarily involves assessing the volunteer schedule for the warehouse, and coordinating with staff and volunteers to fill any gaps. This ensures the process of fruit and vegetable sorting, food pickups and delivery of orders continue to operate smoothly.  Andrea also confirms that all staff and volunteers have the correct documents registered on their file, such as relevant qualifications, driver’s license’s and police checks. 

Andrea chose to volunteer at Bendigo Foodshare as it is a local organisation with a very good reputation within the region. She mentioned that “it is really nice to work with a diverse group of people who are all here for a common purpose.  It’s a great feeling to be doing something to give back to my local community”. 

After finishing university, Andrea got married and moved to England to begin her teaching career. But she later returned to Bendigo (it’s a hard place to leave!), because she wanted her three growing children to experience the lovely place that Bendigo is, just like she did at their age. Now Andrea teaches grade 1s and 2s two days a week at a local primary school.  She says every day is different, “it’s a dynamic environment so you need to be adaptable”. 

 In  the little spare time she has, Andrea enjoys keeping fit by going for runs and  bike rides with her children. Andrea loves to take her kids away when school holidays come around so that they are able to experience this beautiful world. 

Andrea also has a secret!!! Once a year she makes tomato relish from a very old recipe passed down to her from her great grandmother. She takes great pleasure in sharing the relish with family and friends, but she won’t share the recipe. 😊

Thank you, Andrea, for making time in your busy life to contribute to the culture of volunteering at Bendigo Foodshare.