DENVER — For volunteers at Food Bank of the Rockies, making sure others have food on the table is a mission of love.
“They’re genuinely passionate about what they do here. And they bring so much joy and love to everything they do,” volunteer manager Rachel Mattson said.
Volunteer Christine LaFortune has been taking part in that mission on a weekly basis for the last five years.
“I do it because I just love giving back. I’ve always volunteered,” LaFortune said.
That love for helping others became a love of a different kind once fellow volunteer Doug Ruppel entered the picture.
“We struck up a friendship here. He was just the nicest guy,” she said. “You meet great people volunteering.”
“And we worked together for several months. I finally decided to ask her out for coffee and she said [yes],” Doug said. “And we got married.”
The two tied the knot earlier this year. They now both volunteer together each and every week.
“We look forward to Thursday mornings when we work. We both do. We’re excited about it,” Doug said.
The couple is even discussing leaving a legacy of support.
“The other day we were updating our will and we were talking about making a bequest to the food banks in our wills,” Christine said. “Because it’s that important to us to give back to the community.”
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