August’s Volunteer of the Month: Lucy Davis

Lucy leaves labels at the door.

Homeless? Unstably housed? While these distinctions matter to many people, Lucy sees people as they are, without regard for labels others might place upon them. Lucy’s friendly, outgoing smile is the first thing hundreds of guests have seen when coming to get dinner, and her open inquisitiveness puts both guests and volunteers at ease. Lucy upholds the spirit of Teen Feed by interacting with guests with positivity and caring, just as she would with her own friends.

How long have you been volunteering at Teen Feed? 

I started volunteering with University Congregational meal team for about a year and a half then became an Ally for the last two years. When I turned 18 a few months ago, I became an advocate volunteer.

How did you get involved with Teen Feed?

My Dad was running the meal team so he brought me along, and after a while I liked it so much I wanted to get more involved. I kind of knew Katelyn [the volunteer coordinator at the time] from volunteering with the meal team so I asked her how to get involved and that wound up meaning becoming an ally!

What is your favorite thing about volunteering at Teen Feed?

I like working with the kids and getting to know them. I like hanging out with other volunteers. There is structure to Teen Feed to it but it often seems like you are just going and hanging out with neat youth.

What do you like to do outside of volunteering?

Going to see music in Seattle, hanging out with my cats, also hanging out with my friends, and drawing.

What did you eat today?

An apple crumble and strawberries from my yard!

What have you learned from volunteering at Teen Feed?

Not that I particularly came in with stereotypes of what it would be like, but there are stereotypes that aren’t true. Like I said it is more like hanging out with a group of friends, it isn’t spending time with a room full of homeless youth – there’s more to people than that label.

While we’d love to keep Lucy forever, she’s transitioning out of her role at Teen Feed to travel Europe and head off to college. We’ll miss you, Lucy, but we’re excited to see where your future takes you – thanks for volunteering! To learn more about Teen Feed’s Advocate, Ally, and Meal Team volunteer programs, click here. To support Teen Feed’s work, click here.