Volunteer Appreciation Dinner 2017

Over 23,000 hours of service – that is how much time that hundreds of South Shore volunteers contributed via Interfaith Social Services’ various programs this past year. Interfaith recognized this herculean accomplishment at our Volunteer Appreciation Dinner on Thursday June 15^th.

The evening featured food, fun and recognition for some very deserving individuals. Twenty local volunteers were inducted into Interfaith Social Services’ Volunteer Hall of Fame.

Volunteer Hall of Fame inductees 2017: front row: Michelle Goldthwaite of Braintree, Paula Daniels of Norton, Linda Blais of Quincy, Lila Johnson of Hingham, Nancy Kearns of Quincy and Rhonda Lynch of Rockland. Back row: Allison Idris of Dorchester, Rick Doane of Randolph, Barbara Caron of Hingham, Jennifer Chu of Cohasset, Jean and Len Plante of Quincy and Sheryl Murphy of Weymouth.

The Quarry Room at Quincy’s Elks Lodge hosted this year’s annual event. Guests enjoyed a dinner catered by Smokey Stax BBQ followed by an array of desserts prepared by Interfaith’s staff and board members. Interfaith operates one of Greater Boston’s largest emergency food pantries, a mental health counseling center, Thrift Shop, homelessness prevention program and other emergency assistance services. Since 1947 Interfaith Social Services has been a safety net for thousands of children and families from the South Shore who are struggling to make ends meet.

This year Interfaith is celebrating our 70^th anniversary. “For seven decades the principle of neighbors helping neighbors has guided our efforts, volunteers are the heart and soul of that outreach” said Interfaith’s Executive Director Rick Doane.

Interfaith’s Director of Development Paula Daniels further emphasized this point. “Whether they bag groceries for our food pantry clients or assist in planning our fundraising events, all of our volunteers are absolutely essential to Interfaith being able to deliver our programs. We would simply not be able to serve our clients without these caring individuals. Our annual Volunteer Appreciation Event is a celebration to recognize and honor each and every one of our incredible volunteers.”

This year twenty volunteers were inducted into The Matti Lang Volunteer Hall of Fame. The Hall of Fame is named after one of Interfaith’s most dedicated volunteers who gave decades of his life selflessly serving Interfaith’s clients. The honor of being inducted into the Hall of Fame is bestowed upon those volunteers who have been serving within the organization regularly for at least one year. Their names are inscribed on a plaque which hangs in Interfaith’s foyer.

This year’s inductees are: Braintree resident Michelle Goldthwaite; Cohasset resident Jennifer Chu; Dorchester resident Allison Idris; Hingham residents Barbara Caron and Kim Johnson; Quincy residents Nancy Kearns, Linda Blais, Sarah Fong, Diane Leason, Fay Lee, Jack Patts, David DeBastos, Skip MacKinnon, Jean and Len Plante, Ned Pride and Kassie Purcell; Rockland resident Rhonda Lynch; Weymouth residents Wendy Cullivan and Sheryl Murphy.

Thank you to all of our volunteers who contribute so much to helping their neighbors in need!

Here are so photos from the event taken by professional photographer, and Tuesday morning food pantry volunteer, Christine Hurley.