Meet Olivia
Whether making connections with volunteers and advocates or executing a social media posting, Olivia Cook is mission driven and has a passion for making our community a better and more equitable place for everyone to live and thrive. This magical time of the year presents the perfect setting to introduce Last Mile Magic Maker – Olivia Cook.
The daughter of a single mom, Olivia was adopted by her dad who went over and above to make sure she knew she was wanted. Her childhood memories are strong and magical! She recalls Christmas visits to the tree farm to cut down a tree – each year larger than the year before – and hiking vacations out west.
Olivia’s dad was and is her hero although he is quick to say that the word hero is over-used. To be a hero, you have to sacrifice something of yourself for the benefit of others. Olivia is proud of her hero dad and excited to work with Last Mile Heroes who give up their time to bring rescued food to those in need.
Olivia is a hero too – her passion to make a difference in the areas of hunger relief, food rescue and food waste reduction started at a young age. Many children have the super-power to help others see injustice in the world, but few have the gumption to turn their big-hearted ideas into action.
Four-year-old Olivia raised $750 to build a home for a homeless person by selling candy to her neighbors, door to door. While her childhood dream was to be a missionary in Africa, she soon realized that she could make a difference every day for those in her own neighborhood.
She loves to travel physically and through her very active imagination! Her favorite reading genre is fantasy – she loves to dive into books that take her to very different places where she loses herself as she imagines the action taking place. Not many people know that Olivia loves to write music and poetry. She has filled many books and journals with prose rarely shared with others. All that practice has certainly resulted in clear notes to Rescue Heroes and interesting weekly newsletters!
For someone who loves to be with others and travel, 2020 has been a challenging year. Maybe 2021 will present an opportunity to go abroad again, Germany, France, Peru and Argentina are on her adventure list. But short term, Olivia is looking forward to launching Last Mile full scale across Cincinnati in early 2021. She is anxious to get out and meet with people again and tell the story of Last Mile and the difference we can all make to end food insecurity in Cincinnati.
