When Raymond “Skip” Willis’s wife passed away, he believed he would never have fun again. Skip is an active community volunteer, a proud World War II veteran, and loves to make the people around him smile. Today, at age 87, Skip is redefining his definition of “fun” at his church’s food pantry by bringing joy to community members struggling with hunger.
Skip is one of the original volunteers of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church’s food pantry, which has been serving Carroll County since 2008. He is a deacon at St. Paul’s, and has been distributing nutritious food for the last five years. Skip has seen first hand, the need for help grow in his community.
“It’s sad we have this many people, I just can’t believe it,” Skip explained.” We started with about 50 families a month, and now we see 250 families a month.”
St. Paul’s is a member agency of the Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank. Their food pantry is one of the largest food distributions in Carroll County. Each month, St. Paul’s food pantry received 6,000 pounds of wholesome food from the Foodbank that they distribute to community members in need.
“I’m just glad to be able to be here and help all these people,” Skip said. “Anything I can do to help out, I’ll do it.”
Skip’s “fun” now comes from making other around him happy. He also makes time for a little dancing—just like his wife would of wanted.