Mary Wells is the lead pantry volunteer for St. Vincent de Paul pantry run by parishioners of Our Lady Star of the Sea. She has been volunteering for roughly 20 years and initiated blanket and sock drives, Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christ-mas holiday food bags, walk-a-thons and other fundraisers all to support the pantry. She also has taken the extra step to get to know the pantry’s clients, even helping with driving them around town to purchase groceries and other necessary items. Mary is the face of St. Vincent de Paul pantry and is an inspiration with her dedication, depend-ability, and steadfast commitment to fighting hunger and food insecurity with joy, dignity and love. Brenda Villafana and team include a mom, her daughter, son, grandchild and three community friends. Brenda, Maria Elena, Angel, Pablo, Jose, Angelina and Rosa. The five adults are farm workers, all Watsonville residents for over 15 years. This amazing group of people have been volunteering for over five years and have volunteered over 500 hours to the Freedom School food distribtution site.
They remained steadfast and kept the distribution running throughout the pandemic while taking all precautions to protect themselves and keep their community safe from the Coronavirus. Brenda and her team have instilled their values of equality, compassion, and service to others by volunteering with their children and being an example to the next generation. Brenda Villafana and Team, Hunger Fighter of the Year 2021.
