Sun City Volunteer Joins Second Helpings’ Board of Directors
Joe O’Hayer, a Sun City resident, is the newest member to join the Board of Directors of Second Helpings, the nonprofit organization that rescues food for food pantries and soup kitchens. O’Hayer got involved with the organization in 2014 when he and his wife moved to Sun City from Massachusetts.
He initially signed on as a helper and soon started driving a truck picking up and delivering rescued food. Currently, he drives a truck every other Monday and every other Saturday, serves on the truck committee, and heads the volunteer committee. He also substitutes as a driver on other days when needed.
Executive Director Lili Coleman said Second Helpings is grateful to O’Hayer for being an essential volunteer and also for assuming volunteer leadership. She stated, “As a former supermarket owner on Martha’s Vineyard, Joe was concerned about food waste ending up in landfills when it could have fed the hungry. His experience and his dedication to ending hunger will benefit our organization.”
The role Second Helpings fills is important to this new board member. The economy on Martha’s Vineyard is similar to Hilton Head. Both are seasonal and dependent on tourism. Those in the service industry face a higher cost of living so help in meeting the need for food is needed.
Second Helpings fills in a gap for many. One food recipient recently told him, “Nobody in Beaufort County should go hungry with the amount of food you all bring.”
This dedicated volunteer also likes the camaraderie among the truck crews and plays golf with some of the other volunteers. He was a member of the volunteer committee for about a year before being asked to be its chair. The idea is to standardize the training for volunteers and, of course, to recruit more volunteers.
Golfing on various courses is where you’ll find O’Hayer when he isn’t volunteering with Second Helpings. O’Hayer and his wife have two sons still in the Boston area. Vacationing on Hilton Head introduced the O’Hayers to the area and they both like the fact that there’s typically no snow where they live in Sun City.
