Driver Kate Shoup has proven to be a calm in the pandemic storm, a wonderful surprise in the middle of chaos, and a dedicated member of the Second Helpings volunteer family.
Kate joined our meal delivery team this year and enjoys driving around town to #FeedIndy.
As a longtime friend of volunteer Bonnie Ross, she had heard her speak highly of Second Helpings for quite some time but had never found the time to volunteer. And then came COVID and our call-out for emergency volunteers, and Kate, a freelance writer and editor, suddenly found herself with time on her hands. She felt incredibly fortunate to be “insulated from some of the more painful aspects of the pandemic with a roof over our heads and food in our bellies,” and had a real desire to help others who might be struggling.
Kate started out as a sandwich maker back in April, who, along with other emergency volunteers and later the Indiana National Guard soldiers, contributed to the thousands of sandwiches prepared every week in our cafeteria. She says she absolutely loves to drive and jumped at the chance to join the meal delivery team. She enjoys driving through parts of the city that are entirely new to her, serving as a point of contact with partner agencies and “seeing first-hand what great work they do.”
As humble as they come, Kate says she sees herself “as a very small part of a really great organization,” and recognizes that so many other people also contribute their time before she can load a single meal, which she often does multiple days a week. In the past six weeks alone, Kate has volunteered for 13 shifts behind the wheel, delivering tens of thousands of meals into our community.
When she is not delivering meals, Kate also works as a motorsports photographer on the IndyCar circuit, where her husband is a team engineer. She also used to be a nationally ranked alpine skier (!!), and we are so happy that her adventures and heart for service have led her to us.
We appreciate you so much, Kate, and are so grateful for your dedication to Second Helpings!