They could not find a volunteer capable of replacing Betty Anne Devitt.

Instead, the Cowichan Valley Basket Society has hired a paid replacement for the long-time food bank manager who is stepping down April 18 after more than two decades and countless volunteer hours helping the poor.

Devitt said she’d especially miss helping all those who’ve shared their woes with her over the years in Duncan’s busy soup kitchen and food hamper.

“I’ll miss all the people who tell me their troubles and want to give me a hug,” she said.

The food basket’s new manager, who has yet to be named publicly, starts April 18.

Devitt aims to help her get her feet wet in the family-like joint that’s like home to many needy folks.

She’ll have some big shoes to fill.

“Betty Anne did a lot to help the city and the homeless,” said food bank user Joseph Joe.

Debra Harry holds a soft spot in her heart for Devitt who handed her ferry fare to visit her brother Curtis August, after he was terribly burned during a shed fire in 2005.

“If Betty Anne didn’t help me, I wouldn’t have been able to go over to Vancouver to see Curtis.

“She’ll be missed a lot; she’s been here a long time,” Harry said.

Devitt started working at the food bank in 1988, a year after it opened on James Street.

In 2003, the operation shifted next door to Garden where Devitt continued building hefty community support in cash and grocery donations.

“We’ve never, ever asked and not got,” she said of Cowichan’s generosity.

“This valley’s been great because people know this (food bank) is a great place for (needy folks) to be.”

It’s also where Devitt gained the trust of, and gave advice to, many troubled souls.

“There are so many good stories about this food bank — they tell us how long they’ve been off drugs or alcohol.”

Devitt remembered one sick, depressed man who landed in Cowichan District Hospital.

Devitt and some friends visited the man who died just after they’d read his Bible to him.

“We do more than feed people; we care about people here,” she said. “He never died alone.”

Such selfless deeds earned Devitt the City of Duncan’s Scroll of Honour in December 2006, and the Chamber of Commerce’s Black Tie Volunteer Award in 2004.

But in some ways, she regrets becoming the food bank’s beloved poster girl.

“Maybe it would be better if I didn’t have such a (familiar) name in the valley — it’s not Betty Anne’s food bank.”

But it basically is to regulars such as Jinder Rai.

“I’d rather have Betty Anne here.”

Retirement wasn’t Devitt’s idea. That urging came from the CVBS’s board, which was concerned about the hours she continued to put in at her advancing age.

“She has her good days and her bad days,” board member John Duifhuis.

“You can’t find a volunteer willing to work here six says a week and get here at 7 a.m.

“She’s done yeoman duty.”

Now Devitt’s scraping air fare together to visit her sister in hospital in Montreal, her daughter in Winnipeg, and other relatives.

“My family’s been second in my life to this place.

“I don’t get paid, but my husband’s got a pension,” she said, bracing for her last day before likely returning in earnest to do volunteer work.

“I’m leaving all my friends, but as a volunteer I can’t go in half way.”

Friends are invited to stop at the food bank during an April 18 afternoon open house to say their goodbyes.