Dedicated food manager retires

From left, Jody Schiable, IES pastor; C.J. Ackerman; board member James Sanborn; Steve Clem on the forklift; Bruce Reed; and Maxi Rodriguez; pose at Interfaith Emergency Services on Sept. 6, 2024. Clem is retiring after 18 years with one of the area’s busiest nonprofit agencies and Rodriguez will step into his role. [Photo by Andy Fillmore)

Steve Clem is retiring after 18 years of working with Interfaith Emergency Service, a job he feels was a literal godsend.

Clem, 79, moved to the Ocala area in 1982 from Elkhart, Indiana, and worked in sales and the mobile home industry. He first came to IES in 2006 and worked at the organization’s thrift store on Pine Avenue. Around 10 years ago, he started helping at other IES facilities.

In 2016, he transferred to the IES Rueben Brawner Food Distribution Warehouse at 450 NW 2nd Ave., where last year he and his crew managed more than 1 million pounds of food donations, according to IES CEO Karla Greenway.

Clem said he was impressed by the work of the small army of volunteers at the warehouse.

“This is an unbelievable community. The donations blew me away,” he said.

Clem handled donations through the National Association of Letter Carriers Help Stamp Out Hunger food drive which, according to reports, netted more than 100,000 pounds of food in recent years, and other such food drives. He also handled the transfer of about 20% of annual food donations to other area charities, including the Gateway of Hope, Our Savior Lutheran, Brother’s Keepers and His Compassion, Greenway noted. She said IES also shares snacks, drinks and candy with the Community Foundation for Ocala/Marion County, the Marion County Sheriff’s Office and the Boys and Girls Club of Marion County.

Clem said his experiences with IES brought out “the compassion in me.” He added that he enjoyed every moment on the job until recent surgery had an effect on his work.

Maxi Rodriquez, the food distribution assistant manager, will move to Clem’s former position.

IES CEO Karla Greenway called Clem a “blessing.”

“Steve has been such a big part of Interfaith. His willingness to accommodate our donors has been extraordinary. He would move heaven and earth to meet the requests of neighborhoods, churches, the letter carriers and other groups that support Interfaith. Clem does this because he cares so much about the people we serve. He has been a blessing to this agency and to me personally and will be missed very much,” Greenway stated.

Bruce Reed, part of the crew at the IES warehouse, said he met Clem seven years ago and that they are best friends. The IES September 2024 “Good News Letter” called Clem and his staff the “Dream Team.”

To learn more, go to iesmarion.org

Red Sanborn of Interfaith Emergency Services, left, and Steve Clem unload donated items from a U.S.P.S. truck during the Stamp Out Hunger Letter Carrier Food Drive in Ocala on May 11, 2024. [Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette]