An opportunity to feed the hungry, no matter how hard she had to work to make it happen, made Janice Reece happy.
A more than 20-year employee of the Atlanta Community Food Bank, Reece was always enthusiastic and looking for opportunities to help others, friends and coworkers said.
“She was a ball of energy, and if she didn’t feel that way inside, I never knew it,” said John Smoltz, former Atlanta Braves pitcher. “Her acts of service were infectious. You couldn’t help but want to do things with her.”
Reece of Atlanta died July 29 from complications of cancer. She was 60.
A memorial gathering is planned for 4-7 p.m. Aug. 19, at the Atlanta Community Food Bank. Cremation Society of Georgia was in charge of arrangements.
At the time of her death, Reece was the marketing and projects director at the food bank, where she’d been working since 1990, said Rob Johnson, chief operating officer and vice president of community services. Reece was the first full-time food procurement hire for what was then known as Atlanta’s Table, a program of the food bank, Johnson said.
“In the ‘90s one of her more notable roles was that she helped plan the picking up of excess food from the Olympics,” he said. “She really helped grow that program.”
After the Olympic-sized haul, Reece helped coordinate the retrieval of more than 240,000 pounds of food from the Produce Marketing Association convention that was held in Atlanta in 1999. She eventually became director of Atlanta’s Table for several years, before she was moved to the marketing and special events department.
“A lot of her contributions included helping us tell our story,” Johnson said.
Smoltz said Reece was one of the first people he met when he approached the food bank, after his arrival in Atlanta. He said she was an integral part of his Strike Out Hunger and Close Out Hunger food initiatives.
“She was the face of service for the food bank,” he said. “Nobody epitomized devoting their time and energy the way she did.”
Family friend Steve Hurlburt said Reece’s optimistic outlook on life had an effect on anyone with whom she came in contact.
“She was a really positive person and she could make you feel that way too,” he said.
Reece is survived by her husband, Todd Reece of Atlanta; mother, Diane Greenfield of Plantation, Fla.; father and stepmother, Alan and Marilyn Greenfield of Aventura, Fla; sisters, Marla Besen of Miami, Fla., and Wendy Roccamonte of Iselin, N.J.; half brothers, Alan Greenfield Jr of Chicago, Ill., and Christopher Greenfield of Miami; and half sister, Aly Greenfield of Aventura.
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