November 2021: Volunteer of the Month
Ed Dolik receiving a prize in a Chicago-area hamburger cookoff. Photo by Brian Hill of the Daily Herald.
Edward (Ed) Dolik worked in the theater for about 40 years and retired slightly early at 60 with the permission of his CFO (aka his wife, Anne). The only condition was that Ed needed to find something to do with his time. He naturally gravitated toward cooking, which he’d done all his life, starting with helping his grandmother in the kitchen. Ed attended community college outside of Chicago and got his culinary degree and a range of certificates for free. He started volunteering at a church that hosted a dinner once a month to serve those in need. Eventually, the church built an annex with a huge kitchen and dining hall, and Ed became a cook there. But winters and snow grew tiresome in retirement, so Ed and his wife began looking for a new home. While on a trip from Asheville to the beach, Anne passed through Greenville and decided she and Ed needed to take a closer look. The rest, as they say, is history.
How did you hear about Project Host?
Chef Grissom at Greenville Tech [where I was taking some culinary classes after moving to Greenville] pointed me in your direction. I worked here as much as I could, and then the pandemic hit. At that point we did bagged lunches, and I didn’t want to do that so I wrapped desserts. Once the kitchen reopened, I ended up being the Wednesday guy (day captain).
What motivates you to spend your time at Project Host?
It’s twofold: to help people and to develop my cooking skills by mass producing food. It’s an experience. Throughout my career in theater I always had to watch everybody and it was very hands on, and toward the last 10 years I started to drift away from that, letting people do what they did, and if they did something wrong, we’d fix it. It’s the same thing here. I want people to learn and enjoy themselves. They came here to cook, not wash dishes and scrub floors. That’s a part of it, but the other part is to give them some cooking tasks to do.
What is your relationship to our Soup Kitchen guests?
I want to serve people a good, decent meal, not just hamburgers and hotdogs. I want to serve a plate that would be restaurant quality because people deserve it.
I know they are in need, and I try to do the best I can to help. If someone knocks on the door after we serve, I never turn anyone away. The guests are all in need, and I count myself lucky that I’m in the position I’m in. I didn’t have a real easy childhood—I know my parents were struggling, and I saw that struggle, but not as much as our guests.
What’s your favorite part of volunteering?
I don’t really think of it as volunteering. To me, it’s something I love. I don’t consider myself a volunteer. I’m here to cook, to socialize with people. I am here to give comfort as much as I can to the guests. I don’t consider this giving of my time because of what I get out of it.
Is there anything else you’d like to share with us?
I think throughout all of this, my wife has always been supportive of me. My family has always been supportive of me. I think if she would say she wouldn’t want me to spend my time this way, I’d probably listen to her, but I’ve always had her support throughout, including going to school. She gives me the support I need to do this, and it’s great.