Volunteer Spotlight, Bob Mazzone

​Bob Mazzone was first introduced to Our Neighbors’ Table in 2002. “It all goes back to when I worked at the housing Authority for 15 years,” said Bob, “We had a tenant move in because we had to take tenants from shelters, they were our highest priority. It was not rare that we’d have someone come with basically a backpack and a child. So, I would call Rosie, our Saint Rosie, and on a Friday afternoon at 3 o’clock when everyone else was shutting down, I would tell them my plight and that person’s pantry would be filled by 5 o’clock. That’s when I became a devotee. I saw the light.”

Bob regularly volunteers as a driver and in the Warehouse, but Mike our Director of Supply Chain and Logistics, also considers him our innovative engineer as he has built “skateboards” for warehouse storage, custom sized pallets for storage of milk, and many odds and ends around the warehouse to make it safe and efficient. He has held many different roles in the organization including time on the committee for site selection which ultimately brought ONT to the Jardis-Taylor Center. Once the building was all set Bob helped build up the Warehouse. “When I was a young man, I worked professionally in warehousing…We were trying to develop a system and I was able to inject my experience into a place that hadn’t done this before.”
This is not the only way Bob has been able to utilize his professional experience at ONT. He has volunteered much of his life including two years of service as an AmeriCorps VISTA in Chicago and Wisconsin. As an advocate for seniors, his work as the director of the Housing Authority has easily translated to our grocery delivery at Towers and Powwow. 

“It has been a joy for me to work here and use the knowledge I have. I want to help the people who have no place to go and are food insecure. I love food. I love to cook and I love to feed folks,” said Bob on his experience at ONT.

Bob recognizes the growth of ONT and how the organization eventually reached the Jardis-Taylor Center. “It was the whole mentality ‘We will survive. Our mission has to survive.” No matter where ONT is located, the energy lives on. “It’s a wonderful organization and I love the comradery here because nobody is here to do anything but to do good. You don’t have to question people’s motives. It’s a relaxing place to work where you can walk away knowing you did something worthwhile. It’s a good way to spend your retirement.” Thank you to Bob and to all the wonderful people that have grown with us at Jardis-Taylor Center these last five years!