Every Thursday morning at Twin Lakes Food Bank, Magee Duke has a simple goal: make sure every guest who walks through the door knows they matter.
Magee is soft-spoken, but spend a little time around her and you quickly see there is much more beneath her quiet demeanor. She genuinely cares about the people she meets, and it shows—in the way she talks with guests, listens to their stories, and makes them feel welcome. You’ll see another side of Magee come out as she connects, laughs and jokes with the people around her.
For Magee, volunteering at Twin Lakes is a natural continuation of something she has cared about for years. Before retiring, she spent 17 years managing a holiday food basket program, helping provide food to families during the holiday season. After 20 years with a major real estate developer, she retired knowing she wasn’t ready to stop serving others.
“I wanted to continue helping people struggling with food insecurity,” Magee says.
She first discovered Twin Lakes simply by driving past it every day. Nearly a year later, she found her place as a Thursday guest greeter and has quickly become someone our team can count on.
Magee loves welcoming guests, especially elderly guests and those visiting for the very first time. She understands that walking through the doors of a food bank can take courage, and she wants each person to leave feeling valued, important, and respected.
“Everyone has a story to tell, and we all have struggles at different times of our life,” she says. “We can all learn something from each other when we take the time to listen without judgment.”
That same willingness to care extends beyond her Thursday mornings. Whenever Twin Lakes has a special event, a busy day or one of those moments when it’s all hands on deck, Magee doesn’t hesitate. She pitches in. Whether it’s helping another volunteer, lending a hand behind the scenes or stepping into whatever needs to be done, she is willing to help wherever she can.
It’s that quiet dependability that makes volunteers like Magee so valuable. She may not be the loudest person in the room, but her kindness, willingness to serve and genuine care for others speak volumes.
When she isn’t volunteering, Magee enjoys gardening, wine tasting, working out, traveling when her budget allows, and spending time with friends and family.
Her message to anyone who wonders what volunteering at Twin Lakes is really like? “The work is exhausting, but so rewarding!”
For Magee, that reward comes one Thursday at a time—one greeting, one conversation, one laugh with a fellow volunteer and one reminder to a guest that they are seen, valued and not alone.
