March 2021: Volunteer of the Month

Rosemarie Winters (left) and Joan Pisani are some Wednesday regulars.

Rosemarie Winters began her involvement with Project Host when she was the organization's Sysco representative. She fell in love and vowed that when she retired, she would volunteer here, and she's been a Wednesday regular ever since.

What motivates you to come and spend your time at Project Host?

I love to cook, so I can have fun when they say, "Make something out of what we've got in the pantry," and it's rewarding in that respect for me.

I like the fact that we're helping other people. It doesn't take much to be on the other side of that counter, and I can relate to that. Doing something good for someone else is always rewarding. I think I get more benefit out of it than the guests do, and when people come back and say, "Man! That was delicious!" or "Those greens were great—just like my mama used to fix," you feel like you're doing something good and giving people comfort food they don't get on a daily basis.

I also like the comradery with the other volunteers. Everyone gets along, and it makes you wonder if we can all get along in this kitchen, why can't we get along as a nation?

What's your relationship to our guests? How has your view of Greenville/our community changed since working at Project Host?

You get to know guests by name and hear their stories. I remember just being shocked one day when I came and found out one of the regular guests had died. He was such a great guy, and it really bothered me, so much so that I wrote a story about him in a writing class and how much he meant to us all. He didn't have much, but he was so full of life and so grateful. Here's a person who has nothing, but is rich in so many ways.

Greenville is beautiful, but I worry sometimes where people are going to go. They are being pushed out [of the city].