MEET VANESSA!
Vanessa has been volunteering every Friday morning with our Senior Pantry Service for the past six months. As the owner of Vittorio’s restaurant in Pacific Palisades, Vanessa finds time in her busy schedule to spend time at SFC preparing grocery bags for our low-income senior guests and sorting and organizing food donations.
Known for her willingness to serve wherever needed, Vanessa has become a leader among the volunteer community, using her restaurant background to sort through donations and organize other volunteers in preparing for our Senior Pantry Service. Vanessa extended herself even further this past holiday season with her mother by adopting three of our neediest families and gifting them with Christmas presents.
What is your hope for the future of SFCLA and our community?I hope that more people are touched by SFCLA and that the community joins the amazing people who run SFCLA to keep it going. There’s always so much to do!
Why did you want to volunteer here?
Volunteering has been part of my life since I was a little girl. I was surrounded by the impoverished when my family visited Brasil, and helping others was always something that came very naturally to me.
What is your favorite part about volunteering?
My favorite part is the look on someone’s face when they see that you are genuinely there for them, that someone cares and wants to make their life a little better for that moment.
Are you involved in other ways through SFC?
I have spoken quite frequently to friends and family about the work I do, and I am hoping to recruit them. My family and I adopted three families this year during the holiday season, and that is something we will continue to do next year as well.
