Volunteer Profiles - Meet Angelica

Since this Summer, Angelica has been lending her enthusiasm, acumen, and uplifting personality to the weekly food distribution at Our Lady of the Assumption Church in Pajaro. As a working UCSC student, one can only imagine that she has plenty on her plate. Nevertheless, she intrepidly comes every Friday to distribute food to those in need: “I’m extremely grateful to still have a job throughout these circumstances, but I know that not everyone was so lucky. I want to lend a hand to those who need a little help during these tough times.”

Angelica was raised with a volunteer ethic, with her family exposing her early on to the values of service: “I’ve been volunteering since I was a kid, starting off by helping out my parents at fundraising events and food drives.” Since then, she has made volunteering a cornerstone of her adult life.

After living in Sacramento for a time, she recently returned to Santa Cruz County and immediately recognized the area’s pervasive need for food as above and beyond the norm. “Food insecurity is an ongoing issue, and food distributions such as the one in Pajaro are vital and truly make a difference.”

As the pandemic lingers into the cold Winter months, and as some of the delayed economic effects begin to make themselves felt, volunteers like Angelica, and the food distributions that they make possible, are needed more than ever. If we come together and step up, we can ameliorate the monumental damage that COVID-19 has wrought on our community. As Angelica says, “it’s important to be an active part of your community, and volunteering is a way to engage with others while making your community stronger.”