People sometimes assume my work starts and ends with retail, inventory, and circularity. But the truth is: everything I build at LiquiDonate is grounded in community. In real people, real needs, and real impact.
My work with A Meal With Dignity actually goes back years—long before LiquiDonate existed—back to my time at Postmates, where I was participating in a student internship program. That was when I first met Joy D’Ovidio. I immediately saw the power of what she was building, and I began introducing corporate meal-making events across our Postmates offices.
We would coordinate days each quarter where teams in multiple cities assembled 100+ organic, vegetarian meals by hand, nourishing people who needed and wanted real food prepared with dignity. It was simple, human, and surprisingly transformative. That experience planted seeds that are still growing in my work today.
And now, years later, I get to share something special:
Joy D’Ovidio, Co-Founder and Executive Director of A Meal With Dignity, has been awarded the KPIX ICON Award. Her segment will air Wednesday, December 10 at 5pm on KPIX — and trust me, you’ll want to tune in.
Watching A Meal With Dignity Grow—and Influence LiquiDonate
A Meal With Dignity is built on the beautifully simple belief that:
"Everyone can make a sandwich, and everyone should."
Joy turned that slogan into a movement. This all-volunteer organization has grown from a local effort into a model that anyone, anywhere can replicate. No paid staff. No giant infrastructure. Just people showing up for people — and proving that small acts, done consistently, can nourish entire communities.
At LiquiDonate, we’ve continued that tradition by hosting A Meal With Dignity events across multiple regions:
- In-person sandwich-building events in San Francisco and Oakland
- Virtual AMWD gatherings distributing meals in Nashville and Orlando
- Even a volunteer-led distribution in Japan
Watching AMWD evolve with such agility and purpose has shaped how I lead LiquiDonate. Purpose only works if it can bend. Impact only scales if you’re willing to redesign the model as the world changes. AMWD embodies that truth every day.
Joy D’Ovidio: The Definition of an ICON
It’s hard to explain Joy’s energy unless you’ve been in a room with her. She is optimism and logistics, empathy and execution, all at once. She sees people fully, and that is its own kind of leadership.
Joy doesn’t just feed communities. She empowers them. She leads with dignity. And she mobilizes volunteers with a warmth and spark that makes people want to participate.
Her ICON Award from KPIX isn’t a surprise to anyone who has watched her build A Meal With Dignity with grit, imagination, and heart. And when you watch the segment on December 10, you’ll see her magnetism and passion come through immediately. Joy radiates purpose. It’s part of what makes this organization—and this recognition—so special.
If you know someone in the Bay Area who deserves recognition for their service, you can nominate the next KPIX ICON here:
https://www.cbsnews.com/sanfrancisco/kpix-icon-community-hero/
Why Volunteering Matters at LiquiDonate
At LiquiDonate, our mission is to build a world where excess finds its highest and best use — and that includes our time. We’re proud members of Pledge 1%, and volunteering isn’t just allowed here; it’s encouraged, supported, and embedded into the culture.
Being on the board of an all-volunteer organization like A Meal With Dignity reinforces how powerful community action can be. It inspired how we think about service at LiquiDonate, including our paid volunteer time and the flexibility for employees to support causes meaningful to them.
Whether our team volunteers locally, virtually, solo, or as a group, the intention is the same: show up for the communities we’re part of.
The Work That Lives Beyond Us
Serving on the board of A Meal With Dignity has made me a better leader, founder, and human. It keeps me grounded in why the work at LiquiDonate matters — because every pallet, every box, every return, every product we redirect has a human at the other end of it.
Organizations like A Meal With Dignity remind us that dignity is a basic right, generosity is a powerful tool, and community is something we build intentionally.
Tune in on Wednesday, December 10 at 5pm on KPIX to watch Joy’s ICON segment and nominate someone who inspires you. [Update: Didn't catch the segment? See it here.]
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