Team GBFB Spotlight: Kelly Sajous

If you have ever volunteered at The Greater Boston Food Bank (GBFB), there is one person everyone remembers: Kelly Sajous. Kelly is GBFB’s Product Recovery Coordinator and he manages all 26,000 volunteers each year. Everyone recognizes Kelly for his amazing work and his personality. We picked his brain to learn more about the man behind all the volunteers.   Kelly was born in Haiti and grew up in New York City, where the majority of his family still lives. Kelly’s true passion is soccer and his dream was to play on the National Soccer Team. Soccer led him to Boston when he transferred to Wentworth University to play on their team and to study electrical technology. Kelly had to leave Wentworth to work to support to his family. He found work at Polaroid where he tutored colleagues and students in math – Kelly’s other passion has always been teaching people.   In 1996, Kelly left Polaroid to join Team GBFB. Then, GBFB looked very different, with a smaller warehouse and fewer volunteers. But, the mission was still the same: “end hunger here.” Each day, Kelly commutes nearly 2 hours to and from R.I. to GBFB. He endures the commute because he loves coming to work and engaging with GBFB’s dedicated volunteers. Every day, Kelly makes a difference in the lives of those in need by helping to make sure they have enough to eat. And, he makes a difference in the lives of GBFB’s volunteers by teaching them how they can make a difference. Plus, he is practically a celebrity here.   Kelly recounted a story of driving back from NYC after visiting family. He stopped at a coffee shop in CT and a police officer in line immediately exclaimed, “Kelly! Is that you!? Do you remember me?? I volunteered at GBFB with my wife a couple weeks ago!” The officer commended him for his great work and let him cut the line. This is not unusual. Our very own President and CEO, Catherine D’Amato, has been asked “Do you know Kelly?!” at events around the city. To many, Kelly is the face of GBFB.   When asked about a favorite experience, he shared how he loves working with the retirees from State Street and Gillette: “They just get it. They have more life experience so they truly understand what it means when they come here. They come in and don’t mess around; they get to work and work hard.” He also says he enjoys teaching younger generations, “When these young people come in, they don’t always understand what they’re doing or why they’re doing it. When I tell them that I recently found out one of my cousins gets food at one of our pantries, they realize it could be their brother, sister or family member struggling with hunger. They start to understand and it makes me feel great that I’m able to teach them about our work.”   If you are interested in volunteering at GBFB, and meeting Kelly, visit gbfb.org/volunteer. Just beware, we’ve heard Kelly tends to play some pranks with some “pet mice”