A Passion for Serving

Jennifer Abel, Senior Extension Agent, Family and Consumer Sciences, in Arlington, is so proud to recognize the Master Food Volunteers. She admires their hard work and says, “They are the best group of MFV’s because they are so passionate about their work and are very reliable.” They are motivated to improve others lives by working on many programs, including Cooking Matters, Teen Cuisine, lessons at farmers markets, cooking classes and training sessions for new volunteers.

Jennifer wanted to specifically highlight a special MFV, Nancy Broff, who has been one of the longest serving Master Food Volunteers. Her dedication for teaching nutrition to the public has led her to take initiative for Cooking Matters. After realizing that there were insufficient funds to purchase foods for the classes, Nancy contacted six different grocery stores asking to have food donated to the program. Nancy drove each week on her own time to pick up the food at each grocery store. Not only was she in charge of the food, but she also organized the lessons, led the programs, selected the recipes and helped maintain the program’s successes.

As her dedication continued, she shared her nutrition expertise at the Legislative breakfasts held at VCE. Nancy was unimpressed with the breakfast being catered at the meetings because it did not meet the nutritional guidelines she has been teaching at her programs. At the next Legislative breakfast, Nancy volunteered to make the breakfast for everyone that was more nutrient dense than what was being catered beforehand. She continued to volunteer to make healthier breakfasts for each meeting, which has saved $800 worth of catering. VCE is so proud to have Nancy as a Master Food Volunteer as she continues to improve other’s lives by the power of nutrition.

Article submitted by Steph Grasso, Dept. of Human Nutrition, Foods, and Exercise