Sharing Experience Across Generations: Fighting Food Waste with Food Sort Leader Paul

"It's good to spend time with young people," shared food sort leader Paul Kolisnyk. "You gotta keep learning. This is a way to do that."

For Paul, volunteering at Second Harvest offers opportunities for connecting with others and contributing to a solution alongside people from different generations. And after spending 44 years working in the mining industry, he took away an important lesson that applies across sectors: waste costs us all.

"Waste is the enemy of mining and it's also the enemy of the food industry," he explained.

Today, Paul guides volunteer teams as they sort and pack rescued surplus food destined for communities across the city. One of his favourite parts of the role is welcoming corporate volunteer groups and helping create a positive experience.

"For the folks who are making the effort to come, you can see they want to have a fun day," he said. "If they're having fun, then you know you've done your job."

The impact of the work is immediate. Volunteers can often see thousands of pounds of food sorted in a single shift, knowing it will be distributed within days rather than ending up in landfill.

"What you're doing today is going to make a difference tomorrow," Paul said. "It's getting shipped tomorrow. It's going to get used tomorrow."

For Paul, food waste and hunger are challenges that no single person can solve alone. That's why he believes volunteering matters.

"It's not going to happen with one person. It's going to take a team. It's going to take teams of teams," he shared.  

And for anyone considering getting involved, his advice is simple: start small.

"It's not a big time commitment.” Paul said. “Half a day a week would make a big difference."

Whether sorting potatoes, rescuing carrots or helping volunteers understand the impact of food rescue, Paul sees every shift as part of something bigger.

"If you're all pulling on the rope together," he reflected, "that's how you make a difference."