Welcome to the Board, Cristina Buckley! 💚
We’re delighted to welcome a familiar face to the Springs Food Pantry Board: Cristina Buckley, our Co-Volunteer Coordinator and one of the people working behind the scenes each week to make Wednesday distribution run smoothly.
Born and raised in New York City and East Hampton, Cristina has deep roots in our community and a fascinating creative career. After studying film and art history in college, she worked as a set dresser and decorator in film and television, including on the first season of Sex and the City. A return to school at the Fashion Institute of Technology led to a career in textile design and a five-year stint at Schumacher as a colorist and pattern designer.
In 2005, Cristina headed west to work with acclaimed interior designer Kelly Wearstler in Los Angeles. As Creative Director of home furnishings for seven years, she oversaw everything from branding, wallpaper and textiles to rugs, bedding, dinnerware and decorative accessories.
Cristina eventually launched her own wallpaper and textile business, with designs based on her original artwork. After returning to New York in 2018, she rejoined Schumacher as Design Director for three years. Today, Cristina continues to design under her own name, with her wallpaper and textile collections represented exclusively by Schumacher worldwide. She’s also developing designs for a new rug collection. Cristina was featured in Hamptons Cottages & Gardens’ “Meet the Artist” series, which you can read here.
Finding Purpose Close to Home
Cristina moved to Springs full time in 2022 and soon became involved with Springs Food Pantry. Today, as Co-Volunteer Coordinator, she faces what she calls the “mini challenge” each week of making sure the Wednesday distribution roster has the people it needs in the right places.
“Cristina is one of those people we know we can always count on. She brings energy, commitment, and heart to everything she does. Whether she’s here nearly every Wednesday, taking on a leadership role at one of our events, or stepping up to help guide our volunteers, Cristina is always willing to do whatever is needed. Her dedication to the Pantry and to the community we serve has been invaluable, and I couldn’t be more pleased to welcome her to our Board.”— Holly Reichart-Wheaton, Director and Chairperson
But for Cristina, volunteering is about much more than scheduling shifts.
“I love to volunteer at Springs Food Pantry because it gives me a sense of purpose beyond my life. I’ve seen a lot of change in ‘the Hamptons,’ and as we lose the character of our small villages and hamlets, I think it’s important to maintain connection with my neighbors and community.”— Cristina Buckley
That connection extends to the volunteers themselves. “The wonderful byproduct of volunteering has been meeting so many great people, many of whom I consider good friends. I enjoy the camaraderie between all the volunteers and how we are all contributing towards the same goal of assisting our neighbors.”
Anyone who has spent a Wednesday at the Pantry knows just how much coordination goes into making distribution happen. But what recipients see on Wednesday afternoon represents only the final stage of a process taking place throughout the week.
“There’s a lot of ‘on the fly’ problem solving, but it’s fun,” Cristina says. “Each volunteer is an integral piece of the puzzle. I think an outsider would be amazed by all of the steps that have to happen seven days a week for those bags to be packed and carried out to each recipient’s car. As they say, it truly takes a village!”
Cristina’s commitment to community extends beyond the Pantry. An avid gardener and lover of classic movies, books, interior design, and local history, she has also recently begun volunteering with the Springs Historical Society. She is particularly interested in preservation and maintaining the cultural and architectural history that gives East Hampton and its hamlets their distinctive character.
We’re thrilled to have Cristina bring her creativity, organizational skills, deep connection to Springs, and firsthand understanding of our volunteers and weekly operations to the Board. Please join us in welcoming her! You can view her bio as well as all of our Board members here.
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