A retirement party at Foodshare

After 17 ½ years at Foodshare, today was Doug Cooke’s last day.  We had a retirement open house this morning and were happy to see so many of the volunteers Doug has worked with over the years come to join us. 

Prior to coming to Foodshare, Doug served more than 35 years as an Episcopal priest in Connecticut, including from 1970 to 1995 as the Director of Program and Mission at the Episcopal Diocese of Connecticut.  This role had him involved in housing and human services issues across the state and is where I first interacted with Doug.  

When Doug retired from the Diocese in June of 1995, he started volunteering at Foodshare.  At that time, we were trying to figure out how to make the retail reclamation program work and be compliant with Feeding America and health department guidelines while engaging as many volunteers as possible in the work. 

As it became clear that we needed to hire someone to provide oversight to the whole process, two of the great volunteers already working in reclamation came forward as candidates for the job.  Both wanted to work part-time, and so a job sharing arrangement between Doug and Liz that has worked until this day was born. 

When Doug retired from the Diocese, I doubt it had occurred to him that his second career would require him to know a good dented can from a bad one, to manage a pest control program, or to teach the Foodshare employees safe lifting techniques each year.  But, 17 years shows how dedicated to the mission he is --  and Foodshare has been very fortunate to have him as part of the team for all that time.

Doug and his wife, Ann, have lots of new adventures planned, including an African safari later this summer.  We wish both of them nothing but the best as they take off on this next phase of their lives!