Volunteer Spotlight: Andrew Drill

At age 15, Andrew Drill is already a staple at Harvesters. Ten years ago, his class took a trip to our warehouse to help pack BackSnacks and he’s been coming back in various capacities ever since—sorting food in our warehouse, helping with our Stamp Out Hunger event and volunteering at our annual fundraiser, Feastival. Now, Andrew is a part of our Barrel Buddies program along with his mother. 

Barrel Buddies utilizes volunteers to pick up food dropped in our donation barrels stationed at grocery stores and other locations across our service area. The barrels are a chance for the community to drop off nonperishable food items for our neighbors. Our Barrel Buddies “adopt” one or more grocery stores and once a week pick up the food from the barrels and transport it to our warehouse, where it will be organized and distributed to our agency partners.  

Though he has only been volunteering with the program since July of 2024, Andrew has picked up more than 5,500 pounds of food and given 120 hours of his time this year in various ways. As a busy highschooler and hockey player it’s a way to give back that fits into his schedule. 

“It’s convenient and pretty easy,” Andrew says. “My mom introduced me to it and thought it was a good idea, and I agree with that kind of giving time for the community.” 

Harvesters is always in need of more Barrel Buddies to help stock our warehouse. If you have reliable transportation and enough storage space to fit donated food, it’s a great way to get involved, whether you’re a teenager like Andrew or further along in your life’s journey. 

Click here to learn more about the Barrel Buddies program and register to participate.