The Bread of Life Leadership team is excited to announce the recipient of our Ambassador of Hope Award for 2021. The idea for this Award was born during the COVID-19 pandemic when our region of New York became one of the hotspots in the nation. Hoarding of food led to shortages of food available for food rescue and distribution. It was during this time of fear and desperation, that two high school students decided to take on leadership roles in garnering scarce resources in their communities to help feed those in need and support the mission of the Bread of Life that no one should ever go hungry. In their honor, we have established the Ambassador of Hope Award. The goal of this award is to recognize the leadership, initiative, and dedication of a high school student who has played an important role within the Bread of Life in helping to eliminate hunger and impact his or her community. This year’s recipient is Alex Spinola.
Alex is currently a senior at Rye High School. He admits that he came reluctantly to the Bread of Life for community service hours, expecting to do “boring and useless chores.” However, it didn’t take long for him to realize how wrong he was. His heart was moved, and he became a regular volunteer. According to Alex, helping at the Bread of Life brings him joy and a sense of purpose.
To us at the Bread of Life, Alex is indispensable. He has an amazing attitude and a willingness to help in any role, with any task, even on short notice. He happily stocks shelves, lugs heavy cases of fresh produce up and down the pantry stairs, sets up for pantry days, and feeds those who are hungry. He also assists with food rescue in the Bread of Life van and even utilizes his own vehicle to rescue food that would otherwise go to waste.
Alex truly is an Ambassador of Hope in every sense of the word. He gives every task his absolute best and demonstrates kindness and compassion to all people--food recipients, other volunteers, as well as our food donation partners. He readily puts the needs of others before his own, shows incredible dedication and flexibility, and has been a consistent help during a very difficult time. We consider Alex a great blessing and an integral part of the Bread of Life team.