Laid-off workers find outlet in volunteering

Tanya Parker spent yesterday morning in a crowded warehouse unloading and sorting canned foods, dried pasta and gourmet candy corn -- a far cry from what she did as a corporate events planner at Circuit City.

It isn't a temporary job she's taken as she waits to return to a corporate suite somewhere. It's a volunteer gig that takes her mind off her job search and helps others at the same time.

"I call it my karma boomerang," Parker, dressed in jeans, a black T-shirt and sneakers, said yesterday. She was laid off from Circuit City in November.

Parker, 37, along with a group of about 20 other former Circuit City employees, have been volunteering weekly since January at the Central Virginia Foodbank in Richmond.

Others in the group agree with Parker that volunteering provides a much-needed respite from the job search while offering an opportunity to help others.

They also said that working at the foodbank helps give them some perspective on their own situations.

Overall, the group has logged more than 200 hours, filled more than 60 volunteer spots and handled more than 40,000 pounds of food, according to Sudeshna Das-Menezes, community resource manager for FeedMore, the umbrella organization that oversees the foodbank, Meals on Wheels and Community Kitchen.

Richard S. Schultz, executive vice president of FeedMore, said the volunteers' help is greatly needed as economic woes have increased demand for the organization's services.

Requests for help from the foodbank are up 53 percent from last year, and Meals on Wheels service is up more than 20 percent.

Five former Circuit City employees, along with several others recently laid off from Genworth Financial and LandAmerica, spent three hours yesterday morning unloading boxes filled with food donations and then stocking the items. The food will be picked up by food pantries, community organizations and homeless shelters.

Parker, who is charged with organizing the volunteers, said that while it started out as a Circuit City group, anyone out of work is welcome.

She playfully calls the volunteers the Transition Troopers.

The former Genworth and LandAmerica employees found out about the group through networking.

"It's nice to do something that's not related to the job search," said Tom Rosenberg, a former business systems analyst for Genworth. He worked for the company for more than nine years before he was let go in February.

"It gets me out of the house and lets me be around other people instead of looking at the [computer] screen all day," said Nikki Seveke, who worked on Circuit City's Web site for almost six years.

"It feels good to get out to fight off the stir-craziness, said Sharon Kessinger. Kessinger, 48, was a firedog trainer and worked at Circuit City for 15 years. She left the company in January.

Her husband, Steve, 54, who is in his final days at Circuit City, was also volunteering at the foodbank yesterday.

Jeri Cowan, owner of Cowan Human Resources Consultants in Richmond, said volunteering is a great outlet for the unemployed.

"If you are laid off, it makes you have doubts about your self worth," she said. "Volunteering, in addition to the benefit of helping others, helps you with your own self-worth."

But the bittersweet reality of the volunteer group is that while they are helping each other through a difficult time, if all goes well the ranks will dwindle.

Seveke had a job interview yesterday after her volunteer shift ended, as did Parker.

"We'd be happy to see them go, but we would miss them," Sharon Kessinger said.

Contact Louis Llovio at (804) 649-6348 or .