Tim first came to Los Angeles in pursuit of an acting career (the attached photo shows Tim’s first professional headshot!). At the time of his move to LA, Tim did not think the values he had been exposed to at his Mennonite high school and college had made much of a lasting impact on him. It was only after living in LA and seeing at first hand the endemic racism and social injustice in the city, and then being forced to resign from a job after protesting against his employer’s cruelty to animals, that he decided he needed to do something more meaningful. Theater’s loss is FID’s gain!
In the nine years he has been in charge of the Food Pantry at Friends In Deed, Tim has seen the demand for services double. When he started, the pantry opened for only two days a week, served some 220 households, and food stocks were so unpredictable the pantry often ran out of produce and meat. Now they regularly see 420 people or more, open three days a week, and are always able to give out meat and up to 15 lbs of produce per family.
Tim has forged close connections with many of the pantry clients, shared holidays with them, watched preschoolers grow into teenagers, and been the recipient of very many hugs and thank yous. And while food distribution is the main function of the pantry, Tim often finds himself in the role of counselor or confidante – sometimes referring clients to other FID programs, but often just offering a sympathetic ear to a client in trouble.