Joyce Finkelstein, Program Manager for the Green Valley/Sahuarita Volunteer Clearinghouse
Mary Jane Goodrick, Executive Director of Community Food Bank of Green Valley/Amado
Mary Kidnocker, Arid Garden Coordinator with Green Valley Gardeners
Cindy Mayron
Mary Jane Goodrick, Executive Director of Community Food Bank of Green Valley/Amado, Joyce Finkelstein, Program Manager for the Green Valley/Sahuarita Volunteer Clearinghouse and Mary Kidnocker, Arid Garden Coordinator with Green Valley Gardeners will be the guest speakers at the Democratic Club of Quail Creek meeting on Saturday, January 21, 3:00 p.m. at the Kino Conference Center (next to the golf shop building). The public is welcome to attend.
Mary Jane Goodrick has spent most of her career working in the non-profit sector. She came to the Community Food Bank from Mission Viejo, California where she was the Executive Director of the Saddleback Valley YMCA. “Many residents of Amado, Green Valley, Sahuarita and the surrounding areas are struggling to feed themselves and are unable to provide nutritious, balanced meals for their families. Requests for food continue to increase; last year we served 21,484 people, many of whom were unemployed or underemployed adults. We provided all our clients with nonperishable foods such as rice, beans, cereal, canned fruits and vegetables supplemented by fresh produce, eggs and milk,” she said. She will discuss food bank operations, how it impacts clients’ lives, the feeding program and changes for the future. “We change lives in the communities we serve by feeding the hungry today and building a healthy, hunger-free tomorrow,” she added. www.communityfoodbank.org
Joyce Finkelstein has over 40 years of experience leading volunteer organizations. Joyce served as one of the 15 members of the Governor’s Advisory Council on Aging. In 2009, Governor Janet Napolitano appointed Joyce chair of the Council. Locally she has served as Manager of Volunteer Services for Green Valley Hospital and retired from the Green Valley Community Coordinating Council after serving for 10 years as Executive Director. “I want to share a bit of history of how our organization matches volunteers with regional volunteer opportunities and the ways in which we assist our over 100 partners to find volunteers. We also provide training for volunteer managers,” she said. www.gvsvolunteering.org
Mary Kidnocker became a Master Gardener in 2000 after attending horticultural classes at the University of Arizona. Upon earning over 1,000 hours of community service as a Master Gardener she was inducted into the Master Gardeners Hall of Fame in 2008. Green Valley Gardeners is a local non-profit service organization made up of 407 members. “For over 35 years our mission has been to promote beautification and encourage knowledge of desert gardening,” she said. She will discuss the group’s history, challenges and descriptions of current activities including: The Arid Garden, Historical Canoa Ranch, Median Beautification on La Canada Boulevard, development of Desert Meadows Park, Ogden Community Park in Sahuarita, the many free-to-the-public gardening seminars and about the many volunteers who make these projects possible. “We depend on fundraisers to support these projects as well as generous grants and donations from residents. I hope to encourage how others can get involved in this dynamic organization,” she added. www.greenvalleygardeners.com