Home > Blog > Volunteer Appreciation Month: Celebrating Stephanie Ring
Steph
By Elle Garner, Volunteer Coordinator
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At Project Open Hand we rely upon more than 125 volunteers every day to help prepare, package and deliver nutritious meals and distribute groceries to sick and elderly neighbors. In honor of Volunteer Appreciation Month, we will be spotlighting the stories of our wonderful and dedicated network of volunteers who have been helping us fulfill our mission of delivering "meals with love" since 1985. This week, we catch up with Stephanie Ring, who has been volunteering with Project Open Hand since 2006.

Stephanie has been a dedicated volunteer at Project Open Hand since 2006, and currently helps out in the Project Open Hand Grocery Center and at the new Adults with Disabilities Lunch Program, serving lunch to 45-50 people a day.

Growing up in Gary, Indiana, an industrial city near Chicago, Stephanie worked as a mechanic in the Steel Mills. From 1972-75, she was in the Army as a Combat Infantry Point Person for the Battalion.

“I was trained to find traps and ambushes out in front of 60,000 men. It really messes with your head, the responsibility of it all. Their survival depended on what I uncovered.”

Stephanie first heard of Project Open Hand at General Hospital, back when the organization was located at Duboce and Church.

“I was a client back then and picked up meals and groceries. Coming to Project Open Hand is like getting dessert -- something good is always there by the end of the day.”

Steph's warmth and laughter resonate through her rumbling and enthusiastic banter. She keeps the other volunteers, clients and staff entertained with her hilarious jokes and comradery, and her vocal boom box has one volume and it will be left to the imagination on what that might be.

"I used to be a negative person looking for things to go wrong and they did. I’ve stuck to a 12 step program for 38 years. I’m celebrating my 39th anniversary in March. ‘One Day at a Time’ is my slogan. The days add up and I can’t believe how fast 39 years has gone by. My tools have been enthusiasm, gratefulness, admitting when I’m wrong and focusing on what’s great and good.”

What is your favorite memory of POH?
When (former Executive Director) Tom Nolan took over Project Open Hand after Ruth Brinker we had wonderful parties for Thanksgiving and Christmas at the War Memorial building. I sure looked forward to the holidays back then.

Why would you recommend POH?
Projcet Open Hand is a community. People know each other here. They come here to volunteer and end up staying. I’m hanging out and working with my friends.

If you were on a deserted island and you could only have one meal every day for the rest of your life, what would it be?
Cheeseburgers. I could live forever on cheeseburgers. Cheeseburgers with eggs, cheeseburgers with bacon, cheeseburgers with sausage, cheeseburgers with extra cheese. Most definitively cheeseburgers.

What is your favorite food served at Project Open Hand?
I love the fish. The basa in an Alfredo sauce and the salmon in a tomato based sauce are better that what you can get on the Wharf and this is San Francisco! I’m on a Mediterranean diet these days. I’ve already lost some extra junk food pounds and I’m training for the infamous Bay to Breakers, 7 mile, San Francisco legendary race. I use to run 5 miles a day and I’m currently in training to get back into shape to lead the pack in the annual 7 mile race.

What is an example of a time you knew you were positively impacting our clients?
I always struggled with self-esteem and felt bad about who I was. I knew I was making a difference when I started waking up happy and looking forward to the day. I was making a difference in other people’s lives.

What song would you say would be your life sound track and why?
Broken Wings. I was broken in my addictions and expendable to the military.  Now I have a family at Project Open Hand. I volunteer and I keep up the spirits of the people I work with, they aren’t clients they are my friends. It’s a conscious decision to wake up every morning with an infectious spirit of enthusiasm.

If you have questions about volunteering with Project Open Hand, please call (415) 447-2300, email [email protected], or visit openhand.org/volunteer.

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1921 San Pablo Avenue
Oakland, CA 94612
(510) 622-0221
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730 Polk Street
San Francisco, CA 94109
(415) 447-2300
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