Chrissy Fried tapped as ‘Volunteer of the Month’ by DMCC

Volunteer driver Chrissy Fried has been named by Del Mar Community Connections as its Volunteer of the Month for July. Fried has been a volunteer driver for DMCC since 2012. In that time, she has driven more than 4,000 miles in 500 trips, developing close friendships with many Del Martians in their 90s. In the past year, she has been delivering homemade desserts prepared by Carly Michaels during DMCC’s Sweet Hour program, brightening the day of seniors who didn’t get to leave the house very much.

Chrissy Fried

(Courtesy)

Originally from Belgium, Fried attended college and started her career in marketing in Brussels. She met her husband Bob there and married in 1985, and they started their family, eventually moving to Boston with their two kids. After too many cold winters, they moved to Del Mar in 2003, and they’ve been here ever since. Their now-adult kids are both settled nearby in Los Angeles.

Fried’s grandmother taught her the value of volunteering when she was young, helping her to knit sweaters for the less fortunate, and even donate a portion of her allowance. Fried describes volunteering as a “win-win,” talking of friends she’s made through DMCC with deep adoration. She says, “Some of these people will be in your heart forever – when I visit my friend Marjorie and ask her how she’s doing, she tells me ‘I’m behaving and I hate it,’ which always brightens my day!”

DMCC volunteer drivers take senior and disabled passengers to medical and essential appointments and report loving the flexible schedule and the quality time they spend with the senior passengers. Fried says, “If you ask me what I like about volunteering, it’s a smile, a hug (now that we can hug again), a feeling that perhaps you made a person feel special today!”