1. What inspired you to become a volunteer after retiring from teaching science?
- I always planned that I would become a “professional volunteer” once I retired. I love to work, and I know that there is a great need for volunteers. I particularly appreciate the other volunteers at every one of my volunteer activities. Volunteers are choosing to donate their time and energy. Volunteers are wonderful people with big hearts who inspire me every day, and quite simply are so much fun!
2. How do you use your background in science education to inform your volunteer work?
- My greatest passion is climate change reversal. I truly believe that if we do not reduce the level of greenhouse gases in our atmosphere immediately, that a rapidly accelerating rate of wildfires, droughts, flooding, sea level rise, air pollution, and severe storms will kill millions if not billions of people. One of the most potent greenhouse gases is methane which is emitted as food decays in landfills. During the first years after it is emitted, methane absorbs eighty times more heat than carbon dioxide absorbs. The work that Feeding San Diego does not only feeds hungry people but also prevents tons of food from being sent to landfills where it will decay and emit methane. I have been teaching these facts to seventh graders for years, and now, by volunteering at FSD, I can actually be part of that work to feed hungry people while diverting waste away from landfills.
3. What are some of the volunteer activities you participate in, and how do they benefit the community?
- In addition to two shifts a week with FSD, I volunteer every Friday afternoon for five hours at the Humane Society’s Project Wildlife, feeding baby birds. These are baby birds that have been injured by falls when tree trimmers cut the branches or injuries from cats and other animals. Once they heal and are returned to nature, their songs bring joy to the neighborhood and they fill their niche in their ecosystem.
- I also volunteer tutoring a third-grade Poway student in reading and two Korean students and one Japanese university student in English. Especially following Covid, school children need extra support, and working with the international university students strengthens our global community. In addition, it’s fun!
4. Can you share a particularly impactful experience you’ve had as a volunteer?
- This year I have been tutoring a Korean student who is working on his master’s degree at SDSU. When I first met him, he was so anxious because he could not understand what his professors were saying, and he was too unsure of his English to ask questions or contribute during his seminar classes. We have worked together twice a week for six months now. This week, with his face aglow with success, he shared that his final presentation had been well received by his professor and classmates. At the end of our session, he said, “Glenda, you deserve all of the credit for how you have helped me.” Of course, I only deserve a bit of the credit because he has worked so diligently, but his words were truly rewarding.
5. How do you think volunteer work can support education and science literacy in the community?
- When I share the information that was detailed in my answer to #2 with students at FSD, they not only learn facts, but also have the opportunity to put this knowledge into action by diverting food away from landfills and feeding hungry people. Now those facts will stick with them. As these high school students have so many people thanking them for providing this food, they realize that they can make a difference and will hopefully be inspired to volunteer frequently and to pursue careers in science that can further aid in reversing climate change.
6. How do you encourage others, especially high school students to get involved in volunteer work?
- As I work side by side with high school students gleaning produce for distribution, I casually say, “You know, don’t you, that you are helping to reverse climate change?” I find that very few students realize this fact. Today’s youth are genuinely concerned about climate change and realizing that they are having an impact on its reversal is important to them. In addition, at the end of a Produce Pantry shift, I say to the high schoolers, “It was fun, wasn’t it?” They always enthusiastically respond, “Yeah, it was!” Realizing that volunteering can be fun and that they can truly help people and be appreciated will hopefully inspire them to make volunteerism part of their lives.
7. How has volunteering enriched your retirement experience?
- My forty-three years as a middle school science teacher gave meaning to my life in much the same way as being a mother and a grandmother has done. I knew that when I retired, I would not find meaning in so many of the activities that fill retirees’ hours such as playing games or going out for coffee. I needed to keep working, but working as a volunteer who could take off time for travel and family. I did not realize how much I would enjoy it because I had not realized how amazing the community of volunteers is. Volunteers are people who want to help others, who live life actively, and who are funny and fun. I finish every volunteer activity feeling energized by the people I have helped and the other volunteers with whom I have worked.
8. Would you like to share any fun miscellaneous facts about yourself?
- I grew up in the Philippines and India where my father was a doctor through my family’s church. It’s been an exciting, eventful life, riding on elephants, living through the India-Pakistani war, traveling around the world, hiking amazing trails through different states and countries, a plane crash, three daughters, six grandchildren, three amazing dogs, and our neighborhood burning down in 2003. This vast array of experiences has made me realize how amazing but also how fragile life can be and how we should take advantage of every minute that we have.
9. How did you find out about Feeding San Diego? How often do you come in?
- For their Community Service Projects, our seventh-grade students at LJCDS were required to volunteer for a minimum of six hours and create and present to their advisory group a Google Slides presentation of their experience. Very few community service opportunities are open to students as young as twelve but since FSD welcomes kids, a number of my advisees volunteered at FSD with their families and told me how much they enjoyed the experience.
- I do my best to volunteer for two shifts a week with FSD, a gleaning/sorting shift on Wednesday evenings and the Produce Pantry on Saturdays.
10. What’s been your favorite experience so far while volunteering at Feeding San Diego?
- I’ve been volunteering at FSD for over three years now, but only recently with the Produce Pantry. I particularly love the Produce Pantry because I can interact directly with people, provide them with free, healthy food during these hard times, and share a smile and some kind words. I think they realize that the FSD volunteers truly care about them, and that will hopefully lighten their load a little. I am so pleased that now, with regular volunteering at the Produce Pantry, I am being greeted by the clientele when I arrive each Saturday, often by my name, and always with words of gratitude.
11. Why do you want to donate your time to help those affected by food insecurity?
- This is a very challenging time for people. With rising housing, food, medical, and energy bills, San Diegans are truly experiencing difficulty making ends meet. The thousands of hours of work that volunteers provide significantly reduce FSD’s costs and hopefully inspire companies to donate more funds and food to help these people.
12. What is something that most people don’t know about you that you would like to share?
- I would give up everything for world peace, kindness amongst people, and the saving of this beautiful treasure that we call Earth.
