Robin Hyerstay is immediately recognizable in the Project Angel Food kitchen through his friendly demeanor and ecstatic effort to give back.

After working for a nonprofit for 20 years, Robin retired and realized he wanted to do something meaningful with his time.

“I really was looking for a volunteer opportunity that connected my passions with my service,” Robin said. “I had a friend who volunteered here and has been volunteering for years and he said, ‘This is the perfect place for you!’”

Robin applied and eagerly waited for the pandemic to subside to allow him into the kitchen. When the kitchen opened, he applied right away. Soon after, he was volunteering and said, “This is the place I want to be.”

And he’s come back every Thursday and Friday since, making meals, packaging meals and helping in many other ways. He said he’s enjoyed the company of other volunteers and the dedicated Project Angel Food staff.

“The people are my very favorite part,” Robin said. “They have such a great attitude, they make you valued, they give you a lot of responsibility, which is great. They’ll say here’s a recipe let’s work this together, so I get a lot of responsibility to do things that I care about, but all day long people say thank you and so that makes me want to come back.

He added that Project Angel Food continues to meet its mission of feeding savory Medically Tailored Meals to critically ill clients by watching chefs’ precision in the kitchen and through the careful preparation of each meal.

“Seeing it firsthand how things are prepared and how thoughtful they are about the ingredients and how the meals come out and the meals I package every day — I would eat them. They look delicious,” Robin said.

Robin hopes to see Project Angel Food continue to deliver nutritious meals to people in need and see the number of meals of rise every year.

“My entire life I have always been involved in nonprofits,” Robin said. “I feel like it is part of my DNA, that I have been blessed in my life so I have an obligation to serve and I get 100 times back from what I give. I wake up on Thursday and Friday mornings and I am so excited to race here and get to work.”

If you would like to volunteer at Project Angel Food, please sign up at angelfood.org/volunteer.