Greetings Team!

Fall is here! The weather has been awesome the past few days and I’m hoping it will continue for all of us throughout October. 

The photos from the Family Celebration at the Food Bank were amazing!  I was driving through Charlotte at the time after attending a Feeding the Carolinas meeting in Columbia, SC that included some important topics for our work and the network of food banks across the Carolinas. Still, I hated to miss it and I’m sorry I couldn’t be with you. I want to thank the Engagement Committee and everyone who made the evening something special.

As you will see in the Performance Highlights, there are so many impressive happenings around the Food Bank. While we face challenges to respond to the incredibly high need, I’m proud of how our team is doing all they can source food, seek creative ways to get food where it is needed most, explore new partnerships, and work towards even more impactful strategies.

Speaking of strategy, at the end of October, we will produce our first update on the progress being made on our Strategic Plan. When released, I encourage you all to read the document and realize how we are doing a very impressive job of moving our work forward. More to come on this once we release the update.

In addition, Casey will be visiting with each department in the near future to review updates to our Employee Handbook. Much of the changes revolved around required language due to changes in the law; however, I’m pleased to share that we have officially added Juneteenth as a holiday in acknowledgement of this important day in our nation’s history. Your advocacy, especially from the JEDI Council, was key to our presenting this to the Board – thank you.

Finally, I want to share four brief reflections of appreciation of your work. It is always hard to do this when so much great work is happening; however, I needed to share these stories with you:

1. I was so impressed by our Ops team along with other members from across the organization for their patience and spirit as they completed our most recent community food distribution in Bermuda Run as a consistent rain came down all morning. With 200 cars lined up before 6 am, it speaks to the difficulties faced by our residents, but you were there for them – helping address car trouble, managing some young volunteers to make sure everyone was safe, and ensuring that everyone is served with dignity and kindness.  
    

2. Farm to Second Harvest, the second largest event we hold, was another great success. What impresses me so much is the collaboration between the talents of our Providence team with the skills of our Philanthropy & Community Engagement team. Together, they create a unique experience that exposes community members to our impressive, life-changing work.
    

3. I’m in constant awe of our catering team and the job they do. Each week is busy, but recently there has been a multitude of large events, including their support of Farm to Second Harvest; receptions for Junior League and a group of our own donors; and an amazing experience for the Kiwanis Club, which has supported our Food Bank for years. Trust me, these are just a few of the many activities that they are managing in our building.
    

4. Our Partnerships & Impact team is all over the place – literally and figuratively – and that is a good thing. Building new school partnerships; increasing the capacity of our partner agencies; guiding us toward a more robust approach to nutrition through all of our work; matching and managing over 260 grocery stores with our partners; or creating the next group of leaders in Greensboro – this team is doing an impressive balancing act to help us strengthen our work and our region.

As always, so much happening... and I have to stop typing at some point. Please know how proud I am of you and how honored I am to work beside you.

Eric