Craven Family: Extra Mile Drivers

“Someone has to take the lead otherwise these families will be suffering and won’t have any meals to put on the table.”

The Family Tree Award is a V-Oscars award presented to an exceptional family whose passion for volunteerism shines through the extraordinary impact they have made on their community and the lives they have touched. This year, the Family Tree Award was awarded to the Craven family – Jim Craven and his daughter Meghan Craven – for their dedication of countless hours to community service. As volunteer delivery food drivers of Volunteer MBC’s Healthy Meals Initiative, Jim and Meghan delivered meals to families in need every week from Caledon, rain or shine, never missing a single shift.

Volunteer MBC had the pleasure of interviewing Jim Craven during the 2021 Volunteer MBC Golf Tournament held at Caledon Golf & Country Club where he was again selflessly volunteering his time for the tournament fundraiser. Through speaking with Jim, we firsthand witnessed his compassion, selflessness, dedication, and community leadership.

When asked about his motivation to step up to his role as a volunteer delivery food driver, Jim commented, “Well, I guess it was during COVID we had lots of time on our hands and we were fortunate to not be in need, but we knew that others weren’t so fortunate. We lived close by to where the meals had to be picked up, so it seemed like an easy thing to do to contribute to a great cause.” Furthermore, we found that Jim was incredibly humble about his volunteer work when he said, “We’re very pleased to be able to help out in a very small way.” Jim also mentioned that his daughter, Meghan, was the one who initially wanted to take on the volunteering role and he was “the backup whenever school or work got in the way.” Jim and Meghan’s teamwork, synergy, and support for each other marks the spirit of the Family Tree Award by showing how volunteering brings families together, strengthens bonds and allows families to grow together during a pandemic.

Volunteer MBC is extremely fortunate and grateful for the help of dedicated and compassionate volunteers like the Craven family. In addition to raising funds for the COVID-19 pandemic community recovery through the Golf Tournament fundraiser, Volunteer MBC produced thousands of masks and delivered over 30,000 meals over the past year, none of which would have been possible without the help of all of our dedicated volunteers who stepped up for their community during a time of need.

If you or anyone you know is interested in group volunteering or volunteering as a family, you can search for group volunteer opportunities on Volunteer MBC by selecting “Ideal for Groups” under the search parameters dropdown menu. Volunteer opportunities can also be filtered based on your availability, your location, and your areas of interest. We thank you for your community service and look forward to welcoming you to the Volunteer MBC family.