ALEDO, Ill. — Stephanie Retherford works for the Mercer County Health Department. They have established a weekly produce program to provide fresh produce to the county.
“He goes and gets it from River Bend Food Bank every Wednesday. There’s anywhere between 1000 and 1500 pounds of food. He unloads it, he loads it back up with us, he distributes it to the different towns," says Retherford.
She's talking about Bill Glenn, a volunteer who devotes his time every Wednesday to picking up and dropping off the donated food. It is also why she nominated him for the Pay It Forward award.
For the past few years, Glenn has been volunteering for the Mercer County Health Department. He likes to say he is "volun-told."
“It just kind of grew. And she kind of said 'well now you’re gonna take this over.' She kind of volun-told me to do this," said Glenn.
The program has grown over the past few years and especially since the pandemic — from getting food once a month, to once a week and now distributing to five different locations across Mercer County.
“We started with 250 pounds, then we went up to 500, then we went to 750. Now we’re up to 1,000 pounds a week," said Glenn.
Glenn is a retired truck driver, so he's still putting his driving skills to good use. Even though he likes to say he is "volun-told" to do it, he really enjoys helping others and it is just how he was raised.
“I lived on a farm most of my life and you help people in the church and it was just the way I was brought up, and I just continue that now," said Glenn.
Do you know someone that goes above and beyond for his or her community? News 8 and Ascentra Credit Union would like to help you Pay it Forward to them. Click here to nominate someone you know.
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