For longtime PORCH Chapel Hill-Carrboro volunteer Laura Malinchock, what began as a simple invitation to sort food in a neighbor’s driveway quickly grew into a calling to provide dignified and compassionate hunger relief throughout our community.
If you have volunteered with PORCH in the last 15 years, you’ve likely met Laura. She’s the one with her hands full, a smile on her face, and a perpetually hopeful attitude. The number of hours Laura has dedicated to PORCH—and the impact of those hours—is impossible to quantify. She participates in nearly every food sorting and distribution shift each month, served as Board Chair from 2022 to 2024, leveraged her connections with
Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools to help create our Food for Schools snack program, and played an instrumental role in shaping PORCH into the organization it is today.
Laura brings this same passion and commitment to everything she does, whether volunteering with PORCH, mentoring as a Blue Ribbon Scholar Mentor, leading Boy Scout Troop 845, or supporting Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools (CHCCS) through PTA leadership.
Executive Director of the Public School Foundation (PSF) Maddie Blobe met Laura a decade ago through Laura’s work as a PSF volunteer and PTA leader.
“Her work coordinating book drives has strengthened our PSF/CHCCS Books Over Break program, helping us reach more students and raise awareness about the importance of summer literacy,” Blobe said. “Laura leads with both heart and action, and our schools and community are stronger because of her.”
Earlier this week, Laura’s extraordinary service was recognized with the Governor’s Medallion Award for Volunteer Service through the NC Office of the Governor. This award honors North Carolina volunteers who have demonstrated exceptional dedication and impact within their communities.
For Laura, volunteering has never been about recognition—it has been about showing up for her neighbors. For everyone whose lives she has touched through PORCH, CHCCS, and the broader community, this recognition feels deeply deserved. We are endlessly grateful for Laura’s leadership, generosity, and unwavering belief that a stronger community is built when we take care of one another.