Volunteer Spotlight:
Roji Oyama is a new volunteer in San Francisco who has completed over 40 trips in the first two months! In a conversion with the ExtraFood team we got to know him a bit more:
A few years ago, Roji lost his beautiful wife, Kengi, to cancer and fell into a period of isolation in his grief. Before his wife passed, she requested Roji continue to live his life fully, to be kind and help others. With help from support groups, Roji found the strength within the community to establish “a second life outside of that grief” and embody his wife’s last wish for him.
Roji found ExtraFood through a friend and a fellow valued volunteer, Anna Stulz. With food insecurity being an issue Roji has held close to heart, he feels that pairing solutions for food insecurity and food waste is “a vital and important part of this community”.
With his regular rescues, Roji has been enjoying creating friendships and getting to know the needs of his recipients. One of his favorite recipients is Greater Prosperity which is “always so appreciative, and there is a line of people waiting for ExtraFood to deliver”. When he can, he enjoys bringing Mission High School their bagels and appreciates the assistance of the students that rush to unload his car. He also enjoys assisting Anna Stulz with the Fort Mason Farmer’s Market as the vendors are so generous in donating food that Walden House makes great use of.
Outside of volunteering his time, you can catch Roji outrigger canoeing 5-8 miles in Sausalito or walking his three adorable dogs: Blue, Kuri, and Kuma at the beach!
Thank you Roji, we are so happy you are an ExtraFood volunteer!
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