In appreciation of volunteers at Community Food Centres
April 17, 2026
At Nelson CFC, former volunteer Rosemary Fabius became the Community Navigator & Volunteer Coordinator.
In March last year, Rosemary Fabius began volunteering at Nelson Community Food Centre (CFC) in Nelson, BC. On her first day, as she walked around the CFC during her onboarding, Rosemary was energized. “It really hit me right away,” she now recalls. “This is what I’ve been missing. I felt very inspired and excited that something like this was out there.”
As a volunteer, she mostly prepared food boxes that were delivered to people who couldn’t access the CFC’s food bank. And when a staff opportunity later arose, she joined the CFC staff team, nine months after she’d started volunteering. Now the Community Navigator & Volunteer Coordinator, she even runs the volunteer onboarding process that first inspired her.
Volunteers are vital
At Nelson CFC, volunteers are vital given the CFC’s small staff size. Around 40 people volunteer regularly. At programs like the weekly community meal and the Good Food Bank, you’ll see volunteers preparing food, greeting and serving community members, and helping everyone feel welcome. During garden season, the volunteer cohort swells to around 55, as busy volunteers work daily, from planting to harvest.
The CFC’s volunteers often inspire new interest in volunteering at the CFC. “A lot of our volunteers come here because they know someone else who’s a volunteer here,” says the CFC’s executive director, Gord Androsoff.
“Volunteers bring energy, diversity, and a real sense of care and camaraderie that strengthens everything we do,” Rosemary adds. In turn, she says, a stronger CFC strengthens the community.
Volunteers gain value from volunteering, too. They can learn skills and connect with people from different backgrounds. “Sometimes, if someone has never volunteered before, I don’t think they realize they can get so much more back from it,” Rosemary says. “They can get a feeling of belonging, of being a part of something.”
Gaining a shared outlook
Gaining that feeling of being part of something is an experience Rosemary knows personally. Previously, Rosemary ran a vintage store in Winlaw, BC. The store soon became a social hub for the tiny community of around 310 people. Although Rosemary enjoyed holding space for store visitors who were seeking connection and support, she wasn’t as interested in the sales side of the business.
But when she became a CFC volunteer, Rosemary found what she’d been missing.
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I was working alongside people who were often very different from each other. But we had this shared outlook and shared love of this place that was very meaningful.
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Rosemary Fabius, Community Navigator & Volunteer Coordinator, Nelson CFC
Appreciating the impact of volunteers
At Carrefour Solidaire CFC in Montreal, QC, Caro Lemieux-Houle is the interim Mobilisation and Engagement Coordinator.
She, too, started as a volunteer. In 2016/2017, she supported Boîte à Lunch Centre-Sud, the CFC’s youth cooking program. One day, a participant said he liked cooking in the program so much that he wanted to become a chef and make “delicious little meals.” At that moment, Caro saw firsthand that as a volunteer, she could make an impact. Eventually, she was hired as a Boîte à Lunch facilitator.
As a former volunteer, Caro is well placed to continue appreciating the impact of volunteers at the CFC. In programs like the Bols du Quartier community meal, she sees volunteers playing an especially impactful role in building a sense of community. “It’s the volunteers who serve the meals, who chat with everyone, who create the connection that is, at its core, a social bond of community, of living together,” she says.
Former Carrefour Solidaire CFC volunteer Caro Lemieux-Houle is now the interim Mobilisation and Engagement Coordinator.
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And it’s really the volunteers who will carry this on by coming back every week and being a familiar face.
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Caro Lemieux-Houle, Mobilisation and Engagement Coordinator
Recognizing that community members make valuable contributions to the work of a CFC, all CFCs have volunteer programs. In fact, over the years, we have found that 30 to 40% of CFC participants volunteer at their CFC, creating an especially engaged cohort of CFC volunteers across the country. With National Volunteer Week underway, we thank all volunteers across the CFC network!
To learn about volunteering at a CFC, contact your local CFC.
