Meet Volunteers Tom and Nancy Spencer 

Tom and Nancy Spencer moved to Chapel Hill in September 2023. They met in grad school at UNC and have been married for 37 years. The relocation to the Triangle was motivated by a desire to be closer to their two adult kids. 

Shortly after the move to Falconbridge, a neighborhood on the Chapel Hill-Durham line, the couple became involved in PORCH. A neighbor was involved as a Neighborhood Coordinator and forwarded the monthly newsletter. 

“Food insecurity is something I’m interested in,” Nancy says. “So once I saw that, I got in touch and started volunteering.” 

Nancy’s father spent the last 30 years of his life with a unique non-profit he started. From seed companies, he collected seeds that were about to be incinerated. He packaged them into small boxes for family gardens, and they were shipped around the world. “Literally, millions of people have grown fresh vegetables through this effort,” Nancy says. “So that’s why, for many years, I’ve had a concern about this and have asked: Is there a little something I can do to help with food insecurity?”

Nancy volunteered for a couple of months with PORCH before Tom joined her. Now, they are regulars, working on distribution days to load participating families’ cars with non-perishables, milk, eggs, and fresh produce. 

“I like my volunteering to be active,” Nancy says. “I don’t like to sit, if I can help it.” 

“It’s nice to get out of the house and do something that is useful for society,” says Tom, who retired after a career in computer work, mostly for The Vanguard Group. Nancy is a retired speech therapist who worked primarily in hospitals.  

The Spencers often work together during PORCH distributions, but they also don’t mind being put on different sub teams. “We’re with friendly people, doing a lot of good,” Nancy says. 

Interested in learning more about volunteer opportunities? Reach out to sofia@porchcommunities.org.