More Than a Meal: Scott Adams Delivers Connection Across Northwest North Carolina

A Paths to Purpose Second Harvest Team Member Spotlight

With summer approaching, Second Harvest Food Bank of Northwest NC is preparing to significantly expand children’s meal distribution across the region — helping ensure families do not lose access to consistent meals when the school year ends. For Scott Adams, a driver with Second Harvest’s Community Meals program, that work is deeply personal. Every day, Scott delivers more than meals. He delivers consistency, connection, and care.

More Than Food

As a driver for Second Harvest Food Bank’s Community Meals program, Scott Adams is not only delivering nutritious meals to seniors and children, he’s creating moments of connection that strengthen healthy communities.

“What we do is not just about providing food,” Scott says. “We support an opportunity — for seniors in particular — to socialize. That’s important for the soul and the spirit.”

Scott is more than the person who delivers meals each day. Over time, he has become a familiar and trusted presence to the people he serves.

“I look forward to seeing them, they look forward to seeing me, and I get to see them interacting with each other,” he says.

Stories from the Road

Whether delivering meals to senior centers or children’s programs, Scott comes away with stories. There is the jokester from Boston who teases him about wearing “shawts” in the summer. The senior center director who will not let him leave without a piece of candy or a cupcake. The little boy who eagerly asks whether corn is on the menu — and if it is, turns it into a “corn sandwich” by mashing it into a dinner roll.

“Kids are kids are kids,” Scott reflects. “They love corn. They love bread. They love chicken. Some are not interested in anything except chicken nuggets and ketchup, but most of them are really appreciative.”

Scott believes deeply in the importance of providing nutritious meals for children.“Children need food, period,” he says. “And some need this food instead of the food they are getting elsewhere. It’s a fast-food world. This food is better than that. It is a hot meal prepared by really good chefs, and it is really good for you.”

With summer approaching, that work becomes even more important. During the school year, many children rely on school meals as part of their daily routine. When summer arrives, families can face new barriers to accessing consistent meals — especially in rural communities where transportation, work schedules, and distance can make reaching meal sites difficult. Through Community Meals and partner programs across Northwest North Carolina, Second Harvest is preparing to significantly expand children’s meal distribution during the summer months to help close that seasonal access gap.

A Well-Oiled Machine

Community Meals are prepared by Second Harvest’s Providence program chefs, staff, and volunteers. The culinary training program has helped hundreds of individuals launch or strengthen careers in the food industry, while also helping provide nutritious meals to communities across the region. Scott brings feedback from seniors and children back to the kitchen team to help shape future meals.

“They work hard to make sure the food is high quality, healthy, and attractive,” he says. “That’s the tough job. I have it made. I get to go out and see all the smiling people.”Today,

Community Meals helps distribute tens of thousands of meals each week through schools, community organizations, senior programs, and partner networks across Northwest North Carolina. During the summer months, that work expands significantly as Second Harvest and its partners work to help children maintain access to nutritious meals while school is out.

The Places That Stay With Him

Nowhere are smiles more plentiful than at the Enrichment Center, a Winston-Salem nonprofit that provides daytime enrichment activities for adults living with intellectual and developmental disabilities. It is Scott’s first stop of the day — and the place he most looks forward to visiting.

“If you ever want to see where this program really, really works, this is the place,” he says. “This is the most appreciative site in the world. You can see the good being done.”The personalities vary widely, he says, from quiet to talkative, from a little ornery to nonstop smiles. But one thing remains consistent.“Getting to know them, you realize they are full of love,” Scott says. “If they aren’t smiling when I get there, I try to make sure they are when I leave.”

Some of the senior centers Scott visits serve meals onsite. Others are distribution points for Meals on Wheels volunteers who deliver meals to homes across the region — including deeply rural communities where grocery stores, transportation, and regular social interaction may be limited.

“There are people out there who can’t get to a grocery store,” Scott says. “They might not have anyone to check on them. The Meals on Wheels volunteer might be the only person they see.”Like Scott, those volunteers often deliver more than food.“That human contact is just as important to keeping people healthy,” he says.

Finding Purpose

Scott did not always imagine himself working in food access.After leaving a high-stress construction superintendent position that was negatively affecting his health, he began searching for work that felt more meaningful and sustainable.

“When I left there, I had no plan. I told my wife I wanted to do something stress-free,” he says. He was curious about an ad for a courier driver, so he took a chance and sent his resume. “When I found out it was for Second Harvest Food Bank, I knew God had laid out an opportunity for me to do something that actually means something,” he says.

That was nearly seven years ago — at the very beginning of the Community Meals program.“We had no clue what we were getting into,” Scott says with a laugh.On the first delivery route, magnetic latches on the hot food boxes opened inside the trailer, sending pans of food sliding across the floor.“Fortunately, we made it through the day like champs and started learning real fast.”

These days, Scott describes the operation as a “well-oiled machine.” He averages roughly 150 miles a day delivering meals across Forsyth, Stokes, Guilford, and Davidson counties, while fellow drivers help cover the remaining counties in Second Harvest’s Northwest North Carolina service area.“To my knowledge, we have never missed a day delivering food,” Scott says. “If the site is open, we are there. People are depending on us.”

Showing Up

After nearly seven years with Community Meals, Scott believes the work ultimately comes down to something simple: showing up for people consistently.“We need to keep encouraging people to eat healthy meals,” he says. “People need to know what’s in their food and what’s good for them.”At 60 years old, Scott says he has no plans to retire anytime soon.“I don’t care if I have two cents at the end of the day, I’m going to do this,” he says. “It feeds my heart and soul.”

Editor’s Note

As summer approaches, Second Harvest Food Bank of Northwest NC is preparing to expand meal access efforts for children and families across the region through Community Meals, partner meal sites, family meal boxes, and other summer food access initiatives as part of the Keep the Lunch Bell Ringing campaign.