SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – As an all-volunteer organization, St. Theresa’s Bread & Broth is able to help ease hunger with the compassionate and enthusiastic support of over 240 active volunteers. From coordinating and collecting food; to preparing and serving hot, full-course meals; to bagging and delivering bags of healthy, kid-friendly food to hungry children; to administrating all of these food outreach services, our volunteer base performs an amazing array of duties to help the organization fulfill its role of easing hunger in the Lake Tahoe South Shore Community.

To help recognize our many outstanding volunteers, Bread & Broth initiated a ‘Bread & Broth Volunteer of the Year’ award in 2023 with the encouragement and support of the ‘Pay It Forward Project’ which promotes volunteerism as a way of helping others. This year, Rick Chilcott, volunteer extraordinaire, was the awarded the Bread & Broth 2024 Volunteer of the Year award at the January B&B Advisory Board meeting.

Chilcott was presented with a plaque honoring his service to the organization and his generous support in feeding those in need. On behalf of the “Pay It Forward Project’, John McDougall, thanked Rick for his community volunteerism by treating him to a dinner at the Chart House.

“The Pay It Forward Project appreciates what Rick has done as well as for all of the many volunteers that have put in countless hours assisting in this great community program,” said McDougall. “We encourage everyone to get out and make a positive difference in our community by volunteering. Choose your passion and go do it!”

Chilcott has been a Bread & Broth volunteer since 2018 and is well-known throughout most of B&B’s programs. Chilcott volunteers as the dishwasher for three of the monthly Monday Meals, serves on the twice-weekly Food Coordination/Pickup team, and is the Second Servings (Friday meal) dishwasher for Team #4. Chilcott’s friendly demeanor and ready smile is well known to the diner guests and fellow volunteers.

In addition to his scheduled commitments to the organization, Chilcott generously gives of his time to help with ‘special’ organization needs. According to Roberta Strachan, B&B’s Food Coordinator Chairperson/Team Lead, Chilcott will come in extra days to help with food deliveries, special store pickups, or simple kitchen repairs. Once he even drove to the El Dorado Food Bank in Camino to pick up hams for the Christmas Monday Meal dinner. He sets up the tables and chairs every Monday for the evening’s meal service and goes above and beyond by picking up and delivering any leftover food from the Monday Meal or Second Serving to the residents of the Tahoe Coalition for the Homeless facilities where he works as their ‘maintenance engineer’.

Chilcott does all this with a beautiful, big smile. As Susan Baker, B&B’s Second Serving meal program Chairperson/Team Lead, shares “His cheerful attitude makes him so enjoyable to volunteer with. Not once has Rick ever said ‘no’ to any request, any task that I’ve asked him to do. He’s an incredible volunteer.” Rick began volunteering with B&B when he retired from his job as a Mechanical Engineer in the Bay Area and moved to South Lake Tahoe.

“Being a dishwasher at B&B is the best job I ever have had,” shared Chilcott. “I really mean that. Everyone drops off their dinner tray as they are leaving and they always say, ‘thank you’ or ‘gracias’ and they mean it!”

Chilcott truly epitomizes the perfect example of an involved and active volunteer. Bread & Broth and especially the Lake Tahoe South Shore community is fortunate to be the lucky recipient of Chilcott’s compassion, energy, and service to those in need.