As a pulmonary physician, Mary Wurtz spent her career caring for patients. Now in retirement, she has turned her energy to volunteering, and we are so happy to count her as one of our regulars in the sorting area.
Twice a week, Mary can be found in our warehouse going through the massive amount of donations we receive and putting them in the correct categories to then go out to our pantry partners. One of the reasons she says she loves volunteering with us is that it has allowed her to meet and interact with people she wouldn’t run across in her normal life.
“I was in my own little world,” she says. “It was almost all healthcare workers. I’m married to a nurse, so it’s just nice to interact with a lot of other people. So now, I just pretty much sort a couple days a week in the morning, and it’s a core group, so it’s a lot of fun.”
As a Kansas City native, Mary has generously donated to Harvesters for years, but her retirement freed her up to start donating her time as well. She is someone we know we can count on week after week to make sure the community’s donations get to where they need to go.
Mary says seeing the number of people who come through our doors every week gives her a glimmer of hope when she needs it.
“Despite a lot of the chaos in the world, it is gratifying to see that there really is still a lot of good in people, and many of us still really want to do the right thing and help each other,” she says.
Mary is a long-term member of our Harvest 365 program, where donors can commit to a monthly donation amount automatically charged to their payment method of choice. For her, it’s given her a better ability to intentionally make a financial impact. On Harvesters’ end, it helps us to plan ahead knowing that we can count on a certain sustained donation month after month.
“Monthly donations have allowed me to commit to a program I feel strongly about and be able to budget my donations throughout the year,” Mary says. “It’s easier than trying to remember to make a donation at certain times of the year or waiting to receive a request from Harvesters or other groups I support on a regular basis.”
If you would like to learn more about volunteer opportunities, click here.
If you would like to learn more about the Harvest 365 program and become a monthly donor, click here.
