Fifteen years ago, De O’Brien went to the Fuquay-Varina Food Pantry looking for a speaker for The Catholic Daughters of America. Francis Goddard, then Director of the Food Pantry (2001-2022) gave her a tour. De was so impressed with the operation that she determined, “I want to volunteer.” She told her husband, Ray, of her plans to volunteer, and he dec ided to join her. The former military couple have been faithfully volunteering at the Fuquay-Varina Food Pantry ever since. Today, they both work as volunteer coordinators for the Pantry and perform a host of other services.
De and Ray O’Brien agree that their motivation to volunteer was born from the fact that each of them were on the receiving end of charity in their youth. De was a foster child, and Ray was one of eleven children. Both of their families received assistance at one time or another; and because of this, they now consider it a privilege and a pleasure to give back. And De and Ray come with impressive military, work, and volunteer backgrounds that suit them well for their current volunteer positions as volunteer coordinators for the Food Pantry.
Ray has been a public servant all of his life. He was a Marine for 21 years, and a military policeman for most of his military career. He says, “That is what police work is all about; you are a public servant.” His training at the San Diego Sheriff’s Academy reinforced the idea that his job was about protecting and serving. Officer’s school taught him leadership and how to manage people and materials. As a motor transport officer, his duties required knowing where to get parts and how to get things done.
De is a retired teacher of preschoolers with special needs, a job that required adaptability and the ability to work with parents to set and reach goals for her students. She has been a volunteer firefighter, has tutored adult reading, volunteered at a food pantry in Oklahoma, and is a member of the Catholic Daughters, a charitable organization of the Catholic Church. In addition, as an advocate for families touched by suicide, she started the Suicide Prevention Walk here in Fuquay-Varina, raising funds for this cause.
Ray notes that all of his leadership classes taught the best way to lead is by setting an example—leading from the front, not from the rear. Outside of the military, he was a Social Security disability determination examiner where he worked his way up to administrator. He was a volunteer firefighter and a Grand Knight in the Knights of Columbus where their first mantra is to be charitable. He has also joined De in her suicide prevention cause.
At the Fuquay-Varina Food Pantry, De started out organizing the dated foods. She also was in the prayer room where she would talk with people who were going through struggles, and she would pray with them. From there, she became volunteer coordinator. She coordinates about 25 volunteers when the pantry is open every Tuesday and Thursday. She makes sure there are enough people at the different tables—the box packers, the meat packers, and the sorters. She also works the line and fills out the paperwork when people drive up to get food.
Ray started out as a box packer, packing boxes with the staple items everybody receives—the green beans, the corn, the macaroni and cheese, etc. Now, he is treasurer and volunteer coordinator. He coordinates the drivers, orchestrating the work of the after-hours people, those volunteers who work when the Food Pantry is closed. There is a lot of running around that is required: 17 volunteer drivers make about 70 pickups and deliveries each month. Ray does a significant amount of logistical planning for this.
There are trips to two different Food Lion stores seven days a week, to Starbucks several times a week, to Panera Bread twice a week, to Cultivate Coffee every two to three days, and a number of trips to Carlie C’s and Costco, to name a few. Several of the drivers are couples, and they go to these stores to pick up donated items like dairy, deli, meats, bakery goods, breads, desserts, freezer items, etc. They sort the donations and deliver them to the Pantry where they check food temperatures to ensure their freshness, weigh the items, and put them away. In addition, each Saturday, Laeron Roberts (Food Pantry Co-Director) brings truckloads of food to churches for them to distribute before it goes out of date.
Ray says that one of the things that keeps volunteers the busiest is shopping. Besides food that is donated, a number of items are purchased with monetary donations that come from businesses, churches, grants, the town of Fuquay-Varina, and individual donations. Volunteers shop multiple stores several times a week to purchase items like cereal, spaghetti sauce, pasta, Ensure, diapers, feminine products, etc. De and Ray also make a run to Aldi three times a week to purchase fresh foods, peanut butter, canned fruit, and milk. And as treasurer, Ray and several volunteers who help with bookkeeping, keep up with all the credit cards and checkbooks and make sure there is money in the bank.
In addition to food, volunteer drivers pick up and deliver furniture, washers and dryers, sofas, baby items, and beds, and store them at Jim’s Storage. As a need comes up (for example, someone has had a fire and needs furniture, or someone’s washing machine or refrigerator has quit), if that item is in storage, that necessity could be met.
De says of her volunteer work: “It is finding your passion and going to do it, being active. It is rewarding and satisfying.” What she loves is that the Food Pantry is part of a community. Local ministries like Operation Nahyelle, Pine Acres Community Center, St. Bernadette Church and others share among them. “I love that it is a community; we are all supporting each other for the same cause—food distribution—and helping those who are in need of food.”
This past year, the Fuquay-Varina Food Pantry has served 4,717 families, or 17,109 individuals; that is around 400 families per week, all with 25 dedicated volunteers in the building each time the Pantry is open and 17 dedicated drivers making runs to keep the Pantry stocked.
All of this takes a lot of coordination. De and Ray are up to that task. They agree: “We are really just a small part of a very large group of volunteers who dedicate lots of hours each week to help those in need.”
