Volunteer Spotlight: Charles McDonald

Who’s that friendly voice on the phone and smile behind the Denver front desk on Mondays and Thursdays? Meet Charles, one of our wonderful office assistant volunteers. He directs phone calls to appropriate staff members, quality controls hundreds of new and recycled meal bags, and even brings in homemade treats to share!

Charles McDonald, left, and Mark Smith, volunteer resources manager, sorth through decorated meal bags at the front desk in the Denver office.

Q: How long have you been volunteering at Project Angel Heart? 

I have been volunteering two days a week since 2011, but originally started in 1996 at St. Barnabas Church cooking and delivering off and on. I think we were doing about 100 meals a day back then.

Q: How did you get involved?

I wanted to do something constructive with my time after I retired, and being in the restaurant industry as a chef, I thought Project Angel Heart would be the answer to fulfill that– which it was!

Q: You volunteer as an office assistant on Mondays and Thursdays. What’s your favorite aspect of that role?

I like helping people by answering the phone, directing visitors who come into the building, and I feel I have the personality as a people pleaser.

Charles created this piece of artwork, which hangs in Project Angel Heart’s board room, using hundreds of buttons featuring the agency’s original logo

Q: Anything you’d like fellow volunteers and supporters to know about you?

I was born in Malta, I have a great sense of humor, and I love to bring in treats every week because I love to cook. I’m friendly and outgoing in what I do, and I feel if I can put a smile on someone’s face I have done my job.

Q: Do you have any favorite Project Angel Heart memories?

Just the camaraderie with fellow volunteers and employees, both past and present. The time we share together in the breakroom, having good conversation.

Q: What’s your favorite food?

Pasta, sushi, steak, seafood, and I also like comfort food. I love to eat out with friends as well as cook for them.

Do you provide great customer service? Enjoy office tasks like answering phones or data entry? Want to help us organize all those wonderfully hand-decorated bags so they’re ready for our clients? Become an office assistant by contacting volunteer resources coordinator Nancy Blevins. 

Matt Nigro is Project Angel Heart’s distribution coordinator. Previously, Matt spent three years working at Food Bank of the Rockies, where he served hundreds of partner agencies- including Project Angel Heart. Originally from Aurora, Matt is a Colorado native, but mostly grew up in Massachusetts before making his way back in 2012. He studied Communications and History at UMass Amherst and, in 2015, had the opportunity to live and work on several organic farms across Italy, where he fell in love with the sustainable lifestyles. In his free time Matt enjoys painting, reading, hiking, rooting for the Broncos and Avs, and volunteering at the Wild Animal Sanctuary in Keenesburg, CO.