Volunteer Spotlight: Kernel Mark Orland Finds Joy in Serving Others

The retired IT professional gives back at the NTFB’s Perot Family Campus and through its CSFP distributions.

Whether it’s sunny and 75 or pouring rain and 52, Mark Orland can be found most first Wednesdays helping place Commodity Supplemental Food Boxes in seniors’ trunks at the West Dallas Multipurpose Center.

“I’ve lived a life of abundance and so it’s important to me to try to help others,” says Mark, a volunteer Kernel at the North Texas Food Bank. “I think I was raised that way. We were made to serve each other — that’s part of my belief system — if you have, you should share.”

After retiring from a 35-year-career in corporate IT, Mark says he was looking for a meaningful way to fill his time and sought out organizations that serve those facing hunger or homelessness. He became a Kernel, which is what the NTFB calls its regular volunteer leaders, about 18 months ago and now spends hours each week with the Food Bank—sometimes helping pack and box food at the Perot Family Campus and often out in the field helping distribute CSFP boxes, which are provided to seniors facing hunger.

Mark says the CSFP encounters are short but he’s gotten to know several of the neighbors (and their dogs) and enjoys that they get the chance to check in on one another each month.

“It really kind of brings it all home when you see people receiving the food,” he says. “That’s what always touches me. There are so many people, especially in the senior program, who live very close to the line and the food is very important to them and they’re just very appreciative even if they have to wait in line or be out in the rain.”

Even while working full time, Mark says hunger and homelessness were on his mind. Along with volunteering at NTFB, Mark also is a leader with the Plano Overnight Warming Station that serves those without housing on cool nights. And he is a volunteer with Bed Start, a nonprofit that provides furniture to individuals who previously lacked housing.

“I decided to invest my time in something important since I have a lot of it now,” he says, adding that when he’s not volunteering, he enjoys being outdoors, whether golfing or hiking.

Rowena Roberson, NTFB program coordinator who works with Mark at CSFP sites, says from packing boxes to helping out in the field to assisting with intake forms and directing traffic, Mark is willing to take on anything to help his neighbors.

“He is great and does it all!” she says.

For his part, Mark says he admires the way the Food Bank is run and that as a Kernel, he feels like he’s truly part of the NTFB team.

“It’s really a top-notch, well-run organization,” he says. “I feel like everything I do here is for a purpose.”

Kathleen Petty is communications manager for the North Texas Food Bank.