Woman tries to take credit for a volunteer's work at a non-profit, so they let her fail miserably in an important presentation: ‘The most peaceful payback I've had in years’

Author image for Lana DeGaetano
Lana DeGaetano • "Show me to me please."
Jan 27, 2026 7:00 PM EST

Volunteer work doesn't exist so that self-centered people can stroke their own ego and steal other volunteers' work.

To some people, though, volunteer work is the vessel they use to bear the crashing waves of possible mediocrity. In that same vein, they feign skill by robbing those who actually have a clue around them, unwilling to actually think for themselves for a change. How do you reconcile with the fact that someone in your volunteer group might be using their narcissistic magic to take credit for work you've completed? Now, volunteer work isn't about the selfish reward, but we don't condone plagiarism.

You know the kind of people we're talking about. They're the ones who did the bare minimum in a group project at school, hoping and praying to the homework gods that you, who did all the work, wouldn't tattle. If you held your tongue, you probably shouldn't have. Some lessons should be learned young, or they just snowball into something like this next story.

Scroll below to read about how an egotistical volunteer gets the karma they deserve when they try to take credit for another volunteer's good deeds. Without honesty, what does that make us? Liars, but most of us are pretty bad ones.

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  • a group of business people meeting for a seminar presentation
    via Getty Images For Unsplash+

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • "She kept taking credit for my volunteer work, so I let her present it without me"

    I volunteer at a small nonprofit that runs a community pantry and a weekly donation pickup, the kind of place where everyone knows everyone and the "board" is mostly just tired people with clipboards.
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  • I started doing their social media and donation tracking last spring because their old spreadsheet was a disaster and stuff kept going missing by accident.
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  • I built a simple system: a sign in sheet, numbered bins, photos of high value items, and a weekly post that thanked donors without naming anyone.
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  • It actually worked. Donations went up, fewer mistakes, people stopped accusing each other of "taking the good stuff." The problem was Marcy.
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  • She joined around the same time, super friendly, very loud about "giving back," and she had this habit of repeating your idea two minutes later as if she came up with it.
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  • It's always the super-friendly ones, isn't it? They feign kindness because it allows them to complete their agenda incognito. They don't need to worry about others catching on to their selfish schemes, except that not everyone turns a blind eye to excessive niceties.

    Honestly, they're usually a major red flag when I meet someone. Do you have any overly-friendly people you've written off for their undercover evils?

    We all have one person, even if you can't think of them off the top of your head. Make sure to keep that specific person in mind as you're reading this. You just might form some goosebumps.

  • At first I let it slide because, whatever, its volunteer work. But then she started introducing herself to new volunteers as "the one who revamped the whole operation." She also started posting selfies in the pantry room with captions like "Look what I built!" while I'm literally in the background carrying boxes, lol.
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  • The last straw was when a local business offered a small grant for orgs that could show measurable impact.
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  • Our director asked me to pull the numbers because I had been tracking everything. I spent two evenings after my day job making a clean report and a one page summary, nothing fancy but clear.
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  • I emailed it to the director and cc'd Marcy because she had been asking for updates.
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  • Next meeting, Marcy shows up with printed copies and starts passing them around like she wrote it.
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  • She even says, "I stayed up late on this, but its worth it." I just sat there with my dumb little notebook and watched people praise her.
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  • The director looked confused but didnt correct her, I think because conflict makes her itchy. After the meeting, Marcy corners me in the hallway and goes, "Hey, can you keep feeding me numbers, you're so good with details." Like I'm her assistant.
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  • I smiled and said sure, and I went home mad enough to alphabetize my own pantry.
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  • Here is the thing though: the business wanted a presentation, not just a report. They invited us to a short Q&A where we had to explain the system and answer questions about how we prevent waste and fraud.
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  • Marcy immediately volunteered to present. The director, relieved, said yes. Marcy emailed me asking for "talking points" and "the story behind the numbers." I sent her the same PDF she already stole, plus a polite note that she should read the process doc in the shared drive.
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  • I did not remind her that the process doc was basically a step by step guide written in plain language by me, with little notes like "if someone asks about spoilage, mention X." I also did not mention that I had updated it last week with a section titled "Common questions from funders" because I had a feeling.
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  • Day of the presentation, Marcy shows up in a blazer and wedges, acting like a TED talk is about to happen.
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  • The funder rep asks her a very simple question: "What do you do when a donor drops off items that are expired or unsafe?" Marcy freezes, then says, confidently, "We donate everything, we dont turn anyone away." The rep raises an eyebrow and asks, "Even expired baby formula?" Marcy starts rambling about being inclusive.
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  • Then they ask how we track high value items to prevent theft. Marcy says we "use trust and community." At that point the director looks like shes about to pass out.
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  • I kept my face calm and waited. Finally the rep says, "Your numbers look good, but your controls sound non existent.
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  • Who designed this system?" Marcy laughs and says, "I did." And the director, bless her exhausted soul, goes, "Actually, that was all Alex, they built it and they run it.
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  • man talking to woman in business clothes
    via Getty Images For Unsplash+

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • Marcy helps with outreach." Dead silence. Marcy went red in a very specific way, like a kettle.
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  • We still got the grant, because I stepped in and answered the rest, with examples and receipts.
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  • Marcy has been weirdly quiet since, and now when she introduces herself she says, "I help out sometimes." Its not dramatic revenge, but watching her try to sell my work without knowing it was, honestly, the most peaceful payback I've had in years.
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terrible coworkers entitled people karma volunteer payback
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