After nearly four decades of service on the House of Friendship team, Tony Bender continues to give back through weekly volunteer stints at our Emergency Food Program.
Tony Bender has a long history with house of Friendship.
Over the years, Tony has done everything from creating recreational programs at our former Shelter, to running a busy Emergency Food Hamper program.
And while Tony’s career at House of Friendship spanned nearly four decades, it all started very humbly – as a volunteer for the Christmas Food Program, in 1977.
“That was my first exposure to House of Friendship, and it was a good experience,” said Tony. “I had an interest in social work, and House of Friendship appealed to me because it was working with low-income individuals – people who didn’t have a lot of opportunities.”
Tony was studying recreation at the time at the University of Waterloo, and when a job opportunity came up, he found a chance to apply his studies to provide meaningful activities for men in the shelter program. Eventually, Tony oversaw the Emergency Food Program, and enjoyed helping both those in need, and making connections with those who supported the program.
“I know we’ve been blessed over the years with farmers that are faithfully bringing in different things,” said Tony. “It was rewarding developing those relationships.”
After receiving a diagnosis of Parkinson’s, Tony retired in 2017, wrapping up a 39-year career at House of Friendship.
He took a break from extra commitments for a few years, but Tony has found his way back to House of Friendship.
In the past 18 months, Tony has volunteered regularly at the Emergency Food Program, sorting vegetables and helping out in whatever way he can. He also helped with planning this year’s Friendship Golf Tournament.
“Because of my limited mobility, I can’t do much,” said Tony. “But I can sort and bag vegetables.”
And when he’s sorting, Tony sometimes sees some of the farmers who have been supporting House of Friendship through the decades.
“I love seeing how the local farming community still supports us – some of the carrots we get during the year come from a farmer just outside Elmira, and the other day we got several skids of apples.”
“Some people ask me, why did you stay 39 years at House of Friendship? I was never doing the same job – everything kept changing over the years, so it was always different,” said Tony. “And I volunteer now because I see there is a real need in the community to help people struggling with feeding their families. And being able to help with that feels really good. That’s what keeps me coming back.”
To learn more about the impact you can have as a volunteer at House of Friendship, visit: www.houseoffriendship.org/volunteer.
