Rebecah Bouck found out about the work of the Orange County Rescue Mission two years ago when she made a donation towards a Thanksgiving Dinner. Shortly after being laid off over a year ago, after 19 years as an accountant, she decided to use her spare time to make a more tangible contribution through volunteering at OCRM.

It wasn't long before Rebecah found herself involved in an office-related project. She considered this a natural fit for her skills after working for over 25 years in an office environment. But the plans of man are often confounded by the will of God. What at first was a “natural fit” began to give way to a desire to transfer to meal preparation work. Rebecah has always enjoyed cooking, but had no prior exposure to the hustle of a professional kitchen. She need not have concerned herself about that.

When she realized just how much she enjoyed the work, Rebecah quickly added two dinner shifts to her one-lunch-a-week commitment. Unfortunately, volunteering has had to take second place to job-hunting for the time being, so one weekly five-hour afternoon shift a week will have to do for now. She plans to add more when she finds work.

Rebecah enjoys the fast-moving atmosphere of the kitchen, though she still finds the time to interact with the students. She says, “Initially, I thought I would just be a good listener and offer support and advice to the students. Then, as God would have it, it has been the students’ sharing, listening, and compassion that have helped ME in my new direction in life.” Rebecah is exhilarated by the challenge of learning new kitchen skills, and she is fascinated with the experience of working alongside professional chefs.

She adds thoughtfully, “I call several people my new friends now, and hope they feel the same way. I see what God has done in their lives through OCRM, and see how incredibly grateful they are at having almost nothing, and having been given a second chance. I guess the biggest lesson I've learned is that volunteering is not just something to fill the hours of my days, but rather a way of serving God through connecting to people.”