Calgary Food Bank recognizes long-time volunteer after decades of service

The Calgary Food Bank bid adieu to a volunteer who spent more than 40 years with the service as he heads into retirement.

The Calgary Food Bank said goodbye to one special volunteer on Tuesday at a retirement celebration honouring a man for his 42 years of service.

Terry Deets started volunteering with the charitable organization back in the 1980s.

“I started out at an old Safeway store behind City Hall,” Deets said, recalling his first food bank location.

Deets, who is in his late 60s, says he first saw an advertisement for volunteers with the organization in the paper. He made a call, sat down for an interview, and would never look back.

“(I wanted to) keep myself busy because I just didn’t want to be sitting around at home,” Deets said of his 42 years of volunteering.

He is described as a die-hard Flames fan and Stampeders fan who has always been ready to lend a hand in the warehouse or at special events.

“He worked hard, he got the job done, and he actually wasn’t afraid of kind of kicking other people in the butt to make sure they were working hard too,” said Melissa From, CEO and president of the Calgary Food Bank.

The food bank says it’s volunteers like Deets that help the operation running, with 60 per cent of its staff being volunteers.

“When we are serving almost a thousand households a day, that number would almost be cut in half if we didn’t have the support of the volunteer community who are doing the work that they’re doing,” From said.

His colleagues also say they are going to miss him.

“Terry was always in a good mood on the line,” volunteer Deborah Lewis told CTV News.

“I worked in distribution and Terry joined us on the line, and he was always positive and upbeat and always had a joke to crack.”

Deets added the organization became very close to him and has served as “a big family” to him over the years.

Officials with the food bank say Deets’ retirement highlights the critical need for volunteers to help address food insecurity in Calgary.

In 2025, more than 202,000 emergency food hampers were provided to Calgarians in need.

Anyone looking to celebrate Deets is asked to donate to his fundraising campaign “Honouring 42 Years of Heart.”

The campaign is looking to raise $15,000 to help provide food and hope to Calgarians facing food insecurity.