Margaret French

September, 2026

Margaret began volunteering with the Food Bank twelve years ago and now spends two to four hours each weekday looking after online hamper orders. The Food Bank now gets between 30 and 50 online hamper orders each weekday. Margaret goes through about 40 requests per shift, checking to make sure client information matches our records, matching clients with a hamper depot in their neighbourhood and sending out an offer to have a hamper ready for them to pick up. She is a dedicated volunteer who sees volunteering as a wonderful way to spend her time during retirement. “It gives me structure,” she says, adding with a laugh, “I always said I’d get a job at Timmies for the coffee but they have coffee here.”

Margaret says the fact that she is still volunteering with the Food Bank is a testament to the staff who she finds very supportive. It is something she has not experienced as a volunteer with some other organizations. When she comes in to the Food Bank she is treated like one of the staff, joking and laughing along with her colleagues. When asked what she would tell people about volunteering for the Food Bank she says, “There are so many areas to volunteer in and it feels good.”

Edmonton’s Food Bank is lucky to have volunteers like Margaret who see helping others as an important and fulfilling way to spend their time.