San Francisco couple has volunteered together for decades
Husband and wife
By SHARON CHIN
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SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX) — In San Francisco, a husband and wife have volunteered in the fight against food insecurity for more than 36 years.
You’ll often find Rich and Terry Horrigan, side-by-side, serving others.
On this day, they give away fruit in the Bayview at a pop-up pantry run by the San Francisco-Marin Food Bank. “We have the free time, it’s a good cause and why not us?” asked Rich Horrigan.
“It’s outside, it does good, it feels good,” added his wife, Terry Horrigan.
For the San Francisco couple, volunteering is a core part of their week. The Horrigans have been sharing their time at the food bank’s pantries all over the city in the last three years.
Rich Horrigan, a retired anesthesiologist, and Terry Horrigan, who used to run a letter press printing shop, have also been longtime volunteers at an entirely separate nonprofit:
They’ve served at Food Runners in San Francisco since it started 37 years ago.
The program takes excess food from businesses like restaurants, stores and corporations, and delivers it to neighborhood programs that feed people in need.
“So much food was going to waste – combined with a lot of food being wasted and a lot of people going hungry – Food Runners filled that need,” he said.
“It makes my heart happy,” she said. “Because the food doesn’t go to waste.”
The couple volunteers for Food Runners two to three days a week. Their efforts help the program feed 1,500 people a day.
Terry Horrigan was one of the original Food Runners, and a board member in its early days.
Over the years, the Horrigans have become like family whom you can always count on, according to operations manager Tessa Fernandez. “They’re the nicest people,” Fernandez said. “You feel like you’re having a cup of coffee with them every morning when you see them.”
Besides bird watching, volunteering has been one of Rich and Terry Horrigan’s favorite activities in their 56 year marriage.
“So why is it meaningful for us to do together? Because we like being together,” she said, as he chuckled.
He added, “You’d think after all these years, we’d get tired of each other, but we don’t seem to have.”
So for their many years of volunteer service in the fight against food insecurity, this week’s Jefferson Award in the Bay Area goes to Terry and Rich Horrigan.
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