Retiree finds her niche at food bank

Gillis intentionally dresses warmly and wouldn’t want it any other way. She’s the volunteer in charge of stocking, restocking, and distributing milk, cheese, and other refrigerated food to those in need.

“The only thing that goes cold on me is my fingertips,” she said.

Most volunteers with the Atlanta Community Food Bank, the largest hunger relief program in the Southeast, help out once or twice a week. Not 62-year-old Gillis.

She is a fixture at the center, which is open Sundays through Thursdays. Rarely will she miss a day, and often she’s there from opening to closing time.

“I call it my unpaid job,” she said.

Credit: Phil Skinner

Credit: Phil Skinner

A native of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Gillis moved to Georgia to attend graduate school in 1986 and never left. While on break from grad school, she took a job at the Internal Revenue Service that turned into a career. She retired from the IRS in 2019 and has been “living the retirement life since that time” — traveling, gardening and volunteering.

Gillis was helping to feed homeless women at a church on Ponce de Leon Avenue when she noticed in February 2024 that a community food center was opening on Tara Boulevard in Jonesboro.

“I thought: ‘Oh my goodness, I could walk to that location. It would be closer than driving to Ponce on a busy morning in Atlanta,’” Gillis said.

Within a month, she was officially a volunteer at the center, which is set up to resemble a grocery store.

“I’ve always had what I call a volunteer spirit,” Gillis said.

The food bank operates community food centers in Marietta, Stone Mountain and Jonesboro, all cities identified as lacking the local resources to meet the local food needs.

Credit: Phil Skinner

Credit: Phil Skinner

Each month, the food bank distributes more than 10 million pounds of food to needy people in 26 counties in north Georgia.

Volunteers, including Gillis, play a huge part in collecting, sorting and distributing the food.

Veronica Broadfoot, the food bank’s volunteer services manager, said Gillis is one of those volunteers who are “akin to staff in their dedication.

“The staff can always count on Tonni,” Broadfoot said. “Volunteer numbers can fluctuate when the weather gets bad. But they have a constant in Tonni.”

Credit: Phil Skinner

Credit: Phil Skinner

In the last fiscal year, the food bank put more than 26,000 volunteers to work. The majority of the food bank’s “regulars” are retirees. Some younger people regularly volunteer, often to gain some experience for their resumes or grad school applications.

Broadfoot said others will come once for their company or club service day. She said people also volunteer for one day as part of a first date, wedding or birthday celebration.

Broadfoot said that most regulars take on volunteering at the food bank as a one- to three-year commitment.

Gillis said she likes giving back, “even if it’s doing something small. Helping one or two people — I consider it a win.”

“I can’t save the world, but helping the neighbors who rely on the food bank to supplement their groceries is my contribution,” she said.

Credit: Phil Skinner

Credit: Phil Skinner

In these difficult times, Gillis said, “We can all use a little help to stay afloat.”

She said she enjoys helping the center’s employees by giving them some much-needed support.

“I like to believe that my help allows them to concentrate on doing other things while I’m there,” Gillis said.

Employees don’t have to worry about the refrigerator.

“I take pride in making certain that it’s stocked and aesthetically pleasing,” Gillis said. “I really enjoy it.”

Staff and other volunteers refer to the refrigerator as “Ms. Tonni’s refrigerator.”

“The refrigerator is my domain,” Gillis said.

Atlanta Community Food Bank highlights

*One in six children in the food bank’s 29-county area will go to bed hungry tonight.

*In this service area, 716,690 people are projected to be food insecure.

*More than 700 community-based nonprofit food distribution partners in metro Atlanta and north Georgia work with the Atlanta Community Food Bank. These include food pantries, community kitchens, and child care centers.

*The Atlanta Community Food Bank will lose $15 million in federal food over the next 18 months, about 10% of its distribution volume.

Source: Atlanta Community Food Bank

For more information about the Atlanta Community Food Bank, including how to help, visit www.acfb.org.