Voices of the Albemarle
Get ready to experience the heartbeat of Elizabeth City like never before! Voices of the Albemarle, produced by Adams MultiMedia, is an all-access pass to the bold personalities, untold stories, and groundbreaking ideas transforming Eastern North Carolina. Hosted by the dynamic duo of reporter Izzy Kelly-Goss and publisher David Prizer, each episode amplifies the voices that make Elizabeth City and the surrounding area an ever evolving place to call home. Tune in and discover the Voices of the Albemarle.
Voices of the Albemarle
Ep. 22: Food for Thought with Food Bank CEO Liz Reasoner
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Food Bank of the Albemarle CEO Liz Reasoner sits down to discuss the needs of our community, what causes them, and what the Food Bank does to make a difference.
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Hello and welcome back to Voices of the Albemarle. I'm your host, our roving reporter, Izzy Kelly Goss, and we have our Peppy publisher, my co-host David Fryzer.
SPEAKER_00Mr. Rov, Ms. Rover, and Mr. Peppy.
SPEAKER_01Today we will be joined by Liz Reasner, the CEO of the Food Bank of the Albemarle. But before we get started with our interview, this past Friday, as we're recording on July 7th, the Elizabeth City Pasquatink Parks and Rec Department had their annual fireworks show.
SPEAKER_00As you were roving around, just wandering around, just seeing the fireworks, right?
SPEAKER_01Yes. As I was, I was always roving.
SPEAKER_00I thought they were very peppy, by the way.
SPEAKER_01The fireworks. Well, I'm glad you thought so. Unfortunately, a lot of people are calling the show a little bit lackluster, leading to Elizabeth City to release a statement on Monday, July 6th, stating that apparently a malfunction occurred, making the show a little bit shorter than the city had anticipated. Just for those who missed that.
SPEAKER_00Nothing I despise worse than just being shortchanged on explosions.
SPEAKER_01Explosives, yes. So, anyways, speaking of a lack of explosion, the team USA has officially played its last game in the World Cup after a 4-1 loss against Belgium. That was a tough game to watch. Like I said, a little bit lack lacking.
SPEAKER_00I wanted the USA to win.
SPEAKER_01I wanted them at least in the semifinals.
SPEAKER_00I went to college with guys that played soccer. So I appreciate it's a really intricate, difficult sport, but I just never caught on.
SPEAKER_01So well, after we're done, I'll explain what offside means to you. Because I know.
SPEAKER_00I don't know what it means to me.
SPEAKER_01I have actually I have figured it out.
SPEAKER_00They made the offsides, you can be offside in hockey, you can be offside in soccer, and I have no idea. Offside and football, I know, but I don't that's how they should be.
SPEAKER_01Well, offside and soccer, I know, so I'll explain to you when we're done here. Okay. And finally, just so all of our listeners are aware, you can now send us fan mail via our Bud Sprout webpage. For those who are also unaware, Bud Sprout is the podcast distribution site that we use. The link can be found through our Facebook page, through our print articles, and also on our webpage up at the top right hand corner where you see listen to our podcast. I encourage anyone to send us some guest ideas, any any loving commentary, but please do not send hate mail because David will cry and I will have to wipe his tears.
SPEAKER_00I I I can take constructive criticism.
SPEAKER_01Constructive criticism?
SPEAKER_00Are you kidding criticizing me?
SPEAKER_01Uh constructively, yes. Now I think we're gonna jump on over to our interview with Liz from the Food Bank. Welcome again to Voices of the Albumarl, and welcome to Liz. Thank you so much for joining us today.
SPEAKER_02Thank you, Izzy. It's uh uh my pleasure to be here with you. Glad you're here.
SPEAKER_01Yes, we are. I was hoping you could start us off by I think this is probably gonna be a little bit obvious. Hopefully, a lot of people know what the food bank is and and what it does, but I'm hoping you can explain the food bank's mission in your own words for us.
SPEAKER_02Absolutely. The the mission of the food bank is to uh can make community collaborations by connecting people to nutritious food and a brighter future. And that is that is the the focus of what we do. So it's not as focused as it has been. We changed our mission last year when we adopted our new strategic plan. And you know, our strategic our initial mission for the last 40 years was to fight hunger and poverty in northeast North Carolina. And that was pretty simple and easy to say. And but what it what it made us do is to have take a hard look at what we were doing to fight poverty. We were feeding people and we were addressing the issues associated with hunger, but we weren't really addressing poverty issues or getting to the root. And the board decided that they wanted to, with the leadership team, sit down and have a conversation of what are we going to do about poverty? Is that really our wheelhouse? Do we have a responsibility in the work that we're doing? And, you know, the board has embraced the fact that we need to be doing work that is going to shorten the line when it comes to fighting hunger. It's one thing to feed people, but then how do we really have an impact on the household, the neighbors that we serve, and be able to provide those essential services that we believe will lift people up out of poverty or help them achieve a uh self-sufficiency.
SPEAKER_00Are you doing this directly or do you still working with all your you have a number of partners that you're working with, right?
SPEAKER_02We do. We have 155 programs throughout 15 counties in addition to operating the teaching kitchen at the food bank at the Albemarle and the community hub. That is our client choice pantry. So we're in the field doing the work as well as working with churches, faith-based organizations, nonprofit organizations that are serving the communities in the outlying area. We're a regional food bank. We are a proud member of the Feeding America National Network. So we're one of 200 food banks working collaboratively to be able to address hunger. And we're we're in the state of North Carolina, we are one of seven Feeding America food banks serving all 100 counties. So we get together and we talk about um policy issues, we advocate on um on issues that are impacting our neighbors. And one of the major issues that we've been addressing recently has been excuse me, has been the um uh reduction in the SNAP benefits. And SNAP benefits are food stamps. Um it's it was renamed probably 20 years ago, but we still call it food stamps. Um and it's a state nutrition assistance program. And what we're seeing is with HR1 last July, a lot of that that subsidy of that program is being passed down to the states. And we have been advocating for the last year with our elected officials at in Congress and with um our constituents here across the state to address the issues um that are really going to have an impact on the state budget. And for the state, if we ha carry an error rate above 6%, there is a cost sharing that is going to be pushed back down to the state. So our state error rate just came out on June 30th, and they're trying to figure out what the formula is. But when we were talking about the potential impact on the state, it was as much as 25% higher would be the impact on the administrative burden to the state, which was just shy of $70 million a year. Wow. And the state does not have the bandwidth to absorb that.
SPEAKER_03Absolutely.
SPEAKER_02And we there are 13 states across the nation that have advocated and been awarded um, you know, a a forbearance or a deferment of the um cost sharing while they're allowed to get their their um their numbers back down to a reasonable level. Because part of the issue is that they're counting a three-year aggregate that includes the pandemic. And when a lot of the the um errors were occurring because of lack of of access to direct services at the DHHS office. It's not because there's waste fraud and abuse. The the error rates are a result of clerical errors, or a result of the errors that applicants make when they're filling out their paperwork. It can be tied to the post office delay in delivering that application for benefits to DHHS and the time it takes to get that application in front of a casework. That counts as part of the error rate. So it compounds the numbers and winds up putting people in a in a position to not get their benefits. And I understand the you know, the federal government wants to make sure that people have access to these benefits that are eligible for them and that there's not any waste fraud and abuse. But the state needs to have the opportunity to be able to ramp up and staff up in the communities that need higher staffing rates to be able to handle the volume of work in the state. The highest rates that we have in the state of North Carolina are concentrated in the two largest county popular counties with the highest population, Mecklenburg and Wake. They don't have enough case workers to be able to handle the workload. So that's compounding the issue. So for us, that means that if the state has to absorb $70 million annually, they can they're not going to find $70 million. We know that. Right. Um, that means they're gonna have to reduce the number of people who are on the program. And ultimately, that means people are going to lose benefits, the economic stimulation to the economy locally, the opportunity for um the employers like Food Lion and Harris Teeter, Walmart, all of those vendors that rely on those food stamps to keep that economic engine moving in their retail environment, that's going to impact them as well. So it's not just about the recipient, it's about the overall economy. And there's an $8 billion impact to the state of North Carolina when you start reducing these benefits and cutting them down. So we're advocating, and that's part of the root cause work that we're doing. We're working with the National Grocery or the North Carolina Retail Grocers Association to lift our voice and support their advocacy work and lobbying work to help ensure that the state of North Carolina gets that two-year delay. They get that deferment so that they can work on the the error rates that the benefit don't change in October of this year for our our constituents. So that's one of the major issues that we have been working on as a state association and as a feeding America national network to address some of the issues that are right in front of us. And then behind that, we're trying to work look at workforce development programs. How do we help people who may not have access to the resources they need? We we know that transportation is a huge barrier for folks getting around. Especially in rural areas. And we are we have all 15 of our counties are considered rural, except there are two counties that are identified as non-rural, and this will shock you Gates County and Curitec County. And that's because of the workforce that is drawn to Virginia as a result of the labor market. So the workforce is pulled from northeast North Carolina into those areas, which reclassifies them as urban. Um, but we know better than that. We know they're we know they're rural.
SPEAKER_00I don't think of gates as urbanists.
SPEAKER_02No, I don't. I was shocked when I when I heard that and I saw the classification.
SPEAKER_01Um that's very interesting.
SPEAKER_02It is. And you know, the hunger relief is not just about feeding people, it's about understanding the information that's in front of you. Absolutely. Taking that data and saying, okay, how do we get in front of the people who are making the decisions to be able to change the landscape? So as we looked at our strategic plan, we're looking at the next um iteration of what the food bank should be doing. We're having conversations with our local community college system and our university system about how do we engage and create a workforce development uh um atmosphere that really is beneficial. Same thing with the public school system. So we're just scratching the surface on that. And that is really exciting to all of us because if we can provide job um training and allow people to earn skills while working with us, then we know that we're doing that real work to shorten the line and that we're making an investment in the ability for them to be self-sufficient. Maybe not today, but at some point in the future, we're we're helping move them forward in a positive manner.
SPEAKER_01Long-term poverty poverty reduction. I think that's amazing.
SPEAKER_00I do want to Can I ask you something about but you say long-term. No, immediately there's a reduction in funds. So okay. And now you're talking about about uh I guess a a forbearance for up two years to try to help catch up. The bottom line, however, is the landscape has changed. Absolutely. Period, the landscape has changed. Is that what's driving your overall different direction? You're talking about a strategic plan. Okay. Yeah. I think you know, we have it's good that I I'm hearing that you're addressing the whole yeah, right.
SPEAKER_02We are. We're recognizing that one, the USDA programs that are out there that are subsidy programs, whether it be food or benefits like SNAP or WIC, those are things that we know that we need to um to include in our in our basket of services, but we're also recognizing that we've set a benchmark that we're not going to rely on meals coming from those programs more than 15%. And in the past, for our region, they have been anywhere from 17 to 34% of the resources that we've been working with. So going to the assessment of the landscape, we're investing heavily in agriculture relationships. We've hired an additional food resource manager who is working with farmers on our intentional planting program. And the intentional planting program is intended to one produce food right here in our neighborhood so that food can go from the farm right to the food pantry and out in the grocery basket to that household and be on the plate that night. This last year, we ran a pilot program with a gentleman named Jimmy Mizell over in Colrain in Verti County.
SPEAKER_03Okay.
SPEAKER_02He's been planting 35 acres for us.
SPEAKER_01Wow.
SPEAKER_02From June and July of last year and November, December of last year, we were able to rescue or to acquire 440,000 pounds of fresh fruits and vegetables grown right here in Northeast North Carolina that fed the neighbors. And we were able to do that by investing in the seeds, the labor, all of the inputs that a farmer would have. And that allowed him to be really creative and to to make those um conditions available to us where he's planting something outside of tobacco, cotton, and corn. So he's he is really looking at how his his faith is driving his ability to be able to provide the land and we're partnering with paying for the inputs. So we're doing that again this year. We've added diversity across the crop variety. We're also working with spruel um conservation farm down in Roper. They're planting eight acres of sweet corn for us. So we're paying for the paying for the inputs on that, and then we'll bring that in. And that's going to be pennies on the dollar for us. We're seeing that, you know, by bringing it in and having it local, we just need to be able to continue to foster those relationships. And one of the change challenges that we had, David, was last year prior to um when the new administration came in, there was a contract that all the food banks had been given to work with the local food uh food assistance program. And that was nine million dollars across the state of North Carolina. And it meant a million and a half dollars for this food bank serving this region. And that program, the contracts were executed. We had the relationships with the farmers, with the food processors, the seafood industry here in northeast North Carolina, and then in turn, that program was taken that fast and it was dropped. And as a result, that impacted the farmers that we already had relationships with. It impacted the vendors like Bay Brothers Seafood down in Little Washington, not in Little Washington, in Washington County in Plymouth. He had built out his staffing size, built out his infrastructure in anticipation of this relationship that we had started two years before to get us to this point. And we we didn't have the means to be able to do that. We did we couldn't supplement a million and a half dollars. Um, so we're being very strategic in what we're doing. We're being very intentional in how we approach the the processing and how we get food to the table. And it may cost us a little more because we're also supporting economic growth in our community. Right. We're not reliant so much on donations, you having a bad year for us, the food bank to have a good year. Well, you know, we're asking people to support our investment in these local economic drivers and these businesses that are employing our neighbors that are also helping um sustain the community. So it's a different mindset than what we've had in the past.
SPEAKER_01And I think that's a great segue into my next question because I want to ask you, um, relating to what you're talking about with the fishery, with with all of these farmers, but also going back to what you said about all of the retail grocery stores, um, does funding like that, and you may not know the answer, and that's okay. Does funding being cut like that for programs like that and for programs like SNAP, does that contribute to the rise in costs for for everyone?
SPEAKER_02Uh you know, I think the rising costs, I was talking to one of our one of the ops directors for a retail retailer, I'm not gonna name names, but um the transportation costs right now are driving the cost.
SPEAKER_00It's hitting everything. It's hitting everything.
SPEAKER_02Where they would bring in product, fresh produce from um the the West Coast because the variety is available year-round. Um, they would typically pay $3,500 for a tractor trailer load of food to come across. Now it's $10,000 to $12,000 for a tractor trailer of food. Wow. So, you know, when you look at the rising costs, it's also a matter of just trying to figure out what makes it the transportation. It's not just the labor and everything that we're doing. It's it's that fuel cost that may reset a little bit, but I don't think we're gonna see the see it reset to the point where we're not um paying three dollars a gallon for gas or four dollars, four fifty a gallon for diesel. I think those things are are in it to stay um because they've still got infrastructure they need to maintain. Right.
SPEAKER_00When people feel the costs have come down, they will still be higher than higher than when they were even happier. Yeah, amen. That's just the way it is. You know what hits me about this is that okay, the fund again, I'm gonna go back to what I said before, the funding gets cut. Okay, we don't have as much money. There's no reduction in the number of people that really want food. I am not hearing oh woe is me snapping my feet crying. What's really impressing me is that I'm hearing, okay, what are we gonna do to solve this? I I'm I'm very much impressed with that mindset. And it's obvious that it's you know, job number one, let's get the job done. Let other people worry about, you know, stamping your feet and crying, whatever they are. Yes, it there could be very catastrophic things going on. And gee, we're sorry, but we've got people to food to feed. And so let's get to the job. And I I'm very impressed with that.
SPEAKER_02Well, thank you. We my team tries incredibly hard to to make sure that that we're taking care of folks. We've not had to turn people away, but I will tell you they're getting less food than what they've gotten in the past. Um, and that's that's the reality of where we are. And we're trying to figure out okay, how can we bring resources to bear at the food bank that would or at the program distributions that allow people to maybe access a resource that might help um provide a service or um uh a subsidy that would benefit their household. So, for example, we have been partnering with ECU Health, and they've been coming out and doing um their food as medicine outreach with our neighbors. And they started with the pantry right here on our campus, and they're working with us to to put together produce boxes that are specifically geared towards um promoting a healthy, nutritious diet for people who have chronic health needs, such as diabetes. Diabetes, heart disease, and um diabetes, heart disease, and uh hypertension. So the we're putting together these boxes, and what they're doing is they're inviting neighbors to participate. And just the first day that they were out there, they saw probably 24, 25 individuals. And within that population, they had four people that did a finger prick test just to test their blood sugar that didn't know that they were diabetic. Oh. And through that in interaction, they signed them up for their program. They also signed them up for care to get that under control and go to be seen by a primary care provider in their region at no cost. So we're looking at food as medicine in a way that is helping provide a quality of life and an improvement in health outcomes. And if we can do more of that with the the health providers, that is going to be a cost savings for them and a cost savings for the general economy because you're not having chronic care that you're having to address. And if you're reducing those costs, we're looking at being able to partner and receive grants from these health foundations to be able to further that work. So we're really excited about that work that has been going on quietly for the last couple of years, but you're gonna hear more as we move forward in this arena.
SPEAKER_01So, nutrition for obviously for all of those conditions is incredibly important and makes a huge impact. Do you think that? And I'm gonna also tie this in to the two government shutdowns we had and and the lack of SNAP benefits for so many people. Do you think the rising cost of things like insulin paired with the government shutdowns where so many government employees were not being paid? Um, all of these factors, do you guys see plain as day? Like obviously, not just in a little way, but in a large way that this is impacting the number of people who are coming to you for help?
SPEAKER_02It it does. And you know, when you let let's just stop and think about um how we budget our money. Okay. And I remember being a single mother for a long time. And there were certain things that that you had to pay, you knew you had to pay the rent, you knew you had to be able to put gas in a car to go to work. But there were other things that were needs versus wants. Um, but when we're looking at the population uh that we're serving, they're making critical choices, to your point. They're cutting back on the nutritional quality of the food that they're eating. Right. They are they are making choices to stave off hunger pangs as opposed to provide a balanced nutritional diet. And that balance uh that imbalance of the diet creates a perfect storm for the health conditions to begin to build and exacerbate as people continue to um to try and get through the day-to-day. And it just is it's an added stressor. Um one of the things that I've told the team for years, uh you know, we get asked a lot for ramen noodles. And my my opinion is I love a ramen noodle too, but we will not spend resources of the food bank on ramen noodles. Right. We will not spend the resources of the food bank on things that have no nutritional value. Right. And we have been very focused on making sure that we use uh it's uh it's a rating system. It's called um, it's called uh is it chop? Um, it's it's red, yellow, green. And we we code things according to the inventory category that they come in. And we're able to track whether or not something is choose often, choose sometimes, choose rarely. And that's how the how the scale works. So if it's high carbs, high fat, high sugar, it's red. You shouldn't be consuming that three meals a day. We're really trying to do these nudges that move people to make those good choices. Right. And I'll be honest with you, when we survey the neighbors that request food assistance, the things that they ask for the most are fresh fruits and vegetables because they're expensive, and then lean proteins because they're incredibly expensive. Right. So, you know, we're always trying to use those modest resources that we have to spend on those, on those resources to bring them in. That's the advantage and the disadvantage that we have here in Northeast North Carolina. We don't have a lot of manufacturing. There's there's not a lot of production that goes on here. Um so we're blessed with an abundance of fresh vegetables that are grown here, and we try and take advantage of that and then try and augment what we're able to bring in through through other food banks outside of the growing season here. But that requires money. And that money means that we're paying transportation to get food here from Florida or um Virginia or uh Georgia. You know, all of those places where things are growing that we need to take advantage of. And for transportation, it's gone from we could we we used to be able to go to to um to Columbia, South Carolina to pick up greens for for twelve hundred dollars. Uh the last quote that we received was $2,500 and it just going up from there.
SPEAKER_01So on average, and I have these numbers right here, you guys serve 112,000 households annually. Correct.
SPEAKER_02And that's that's duplication of services as well. And what we're what we're doing is we're seeing some people that need food assistance every month. And you may see it one person or a household only come in once because that's the all they needed. They just needed a a helping hand to get them to the next, the next uh past the the the current emergency.
SPEAKER_01And is this this that number that's based off of basically last year's average?
SPEAKER_02That is household reporting numbers that we receive from our partner agencies.
SPEAKER_01Do you guys expect to see an uptick in in the coming year's numbers because of everything that's happened in the past six months?
SPEAKER_02Um what that's a really good question, Izzy. And data is always lagging. Um there's a hunger study that's coming out at the end of July from it's called Map the Meal Gap, and those numbers will be um reported on in 20 from 2024.
SPEAKER_01Okay.
SPEAKER_02So, you know, what the reality is today, because of a government shutdown, because of what's happening with the food stamp program in October, those numbers are going to be more relevant to us and our story and us portraying the impact than the hunger study that is coming out that's or the math the meal gap report that's coming out this two years old. And as leadership, we're constantly talking about the the issue of of data and having having it be current and relevant and real time. And we're working with Feeding America to make sure that that is something that we can provide. And Feeding America is is um sponsoring a platform for our partner agencies. It's called Service Insights, allows them to put in real-time data and it gets aggreg pulled up and aggregated for the region. We can look at countywide data, we can look at census track data if the agency participates in this. And that's going to be really transformation, transformational in the coming years. And that's one of the priorities that my team has in this next year is to get all of our partner agencies on that platform so that we can really be able to tell that story and also portray what the what the reality is.
SPEAKER_01So kind of shifting gears, we've talked a lot about statistics, we've talked a lot about what impacts um impacts your your operations and and just the people of Northeastern North Carolina negatively. I want to shift gears to something a little bit more positive. Absolutely. Because, you know, you guys do a lot of really great work. Um, and obviously you guys need a lot of volunteers. So I think a lot of people do know that you take volunteers. They do know that you take donations. But can you talk a little bit about your volunteer program and where you guys see a need for people to come and and help you or to to donate things?
SPEAKER_02Well, that thank you. I appreciate the opportunity to to talk about that because volunteers are so critical to the work that we do. Um, over 9,000 hours are given annually at the Food Bank of the Almore. This year we're on track to be at 11,000 hours. That's amazing. And you stop and think about what that's the equivalent of. So 2,000 hours is a full-time employee. Really quickly, it adds up to multiple full-time employees that we're able to um support through volunteer service instead of adding to the paid staff. And we do have a paid staff. We have a paid staff of 29 full-time employees because we're serving 15 counties, and there's 8 million pounds of food coming in and out of that warehouse operation and being distributed. Um, and volunteers are always needed when it comes to working in the warehouse as groups or as individuals. We're always looking for people who have some talent that they they want to come in and they want to box food up. They can work the CSFP line, that's our commodity supplemental senior program, food box. They can also come in and work in the warehouse with our our staff and go out on distributions with our staff. We ride along and help with the distribution, the mobile pop-ups that we have in the outlying counties. We love, love, love to have volunteers from for administrative support. Um there's a pound of paperwork associated with every pound of food we distribute. Um because of the accountability and the transparency, we have a lot of reporting that we do, which we're very proud to say that you know, we we have a clean audit and a 990 report that demonstrates that we're good stewards of the resources, but at the same time, there's a lot of work that goes into making that happen. So, you know, volunteering to be the receptionists, to be the face at the front desk is probably one of the easy lifts. And um, we love to have retirees and professionals that are willing to give a couple hours of a week to sit at the front desk and get to know us and be the first the ambassador at the front desk. The teams that are working in the back, I always hear how much they enjoy working with the staff members that they're paired with. And um for us right now, we're getting ready to put our bagging line back in production with the potatoes that are coming in in 2,000-pound totes. We have a production line that allows us to um pour those potatoes into a hopper and it agreed, and it will gravity feed onto a belt line and it will bag into three pound bags, three to five pound bags. And that only takes three people to operate. So you go come in, do a few hours, and you can have multiple bins of potatoes. You can have 10,000 pounds of potatoes bagged up in short order, which is huge. And it's really kind of fun to watch and to do. Um the it reminds me of it's not as silly as the remember the Lucy and Ethel with the chocolate line. It's not as silly as that, but um, it's it's that kind of production where you're doing that type of uh consistent work. Um, the other thing we ask for volunteers to do is to go out and represent us at events. So if you like to be uh front and center, you like to publicly speak, we'd love to coach you through becoming an ambassador for the Food Bank of the Albemar. And then the last thing I would say is, you know, we're always looking for talented members to serve on our board of directors and um to provide governance and oversight for the organization. It's a all volunteer board. We have members from the private sector, the education sector, the food industry, and the Coast Guard. You know, we're just we've got a good blend of folks, but every year we're rotating three. So we're always looking for that next person who can help us move the needle on hunger and has a passion for the work that we do.
SPEAKER_01I think that's those are really great programs. I I hope lots of people hear this and are inspired to come to come and help you guys.
SPEAKER_00Can I ask a question? Do you do you reach out to the business community and talk a little bit about that? I mean, uh, what's the reception and what what more can be done in that respect?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, the the business community, we're looking for opportunities for sponsorship to help us continue the mission of the food bank. Um, through their business uh sponsorship, like uh yesterday, uh Winnie was with us from Dominion and she came in, presented the did a check presentation, and they have a group of employees that use the food bank as an opportunity for a team building exercise. So they will come out and they will build or pack boxes and work with us for half a day. It's part of their service work that they're giving back to the community, and we're happy to be that host. We also have a teaching kitchen environment that allows for the community to come in and use that space for community meetings, for uh staff meetings, for any type of engagement where they want to come off campus. We can we can serve as many as 50 people in that teaching kitchen, and it has all the technology built into it. So it's a great way for people to get in the door, come see us for um for their for their needs, have a an off-site space where they feel like they can connect and focus, and then um maybe spend a couple hours volunteering with us at the same time. So annually we're looking to raise about $250,000 through sponsorships with business community. So we're looking for opportunities to get in front of more businesses. Sentera is has been one of our key partners for the teaching kitchen, the community food pantry, the client choice food pantry, and um those types of partnerships are how we build our alliance. We're also grateful to Mile One. They just came out and did a volunteer activity on a Sunday. We did a special event for them and their staff and their families to come out and do a child um friendly bag, and they built it, and then they had their own team building exercise in the teaching kitchen on Sunday and um really enjoyed the experience. So we educated folks about the food bank, taught them about what hunger is, and engaged their families and promoted the food bank. And we get a lot of this. I had no idea. So the more people we can get in the door, the better, or the more people we can get in front of. Um, I was talking with Robin Zinnmeister from COA, and it had been years since she had been out to the food bank. She'd been out then, she was out there a few weeks ago for us to talk about partnership with COA on workforce development. And she walked in, she says, I had no idea. I I said, It's been it's been a while since we've had you had you out. We're happy to give tours, would love to show people the good work that we're doing and to be able to share more about what they can do to get involved to alleviate hunger in our community. We have a lot of child hunger in this region. There's a lot of uh food insecurity that is persistent. I've been doing this for 30 years, and um, as I talk to our elected officials, I'm always reminding them that the landscape hasn't really changed in all the time that I've been here doing this. We're not seeing the job creation that is going to advance the region to be able to lift power or to reduce poverty. So, how do we address that? Um, how do we focus on the things that are needed in order to create a vibrant community? So, those are the things that we're focused on, and those are the conversations that we want to have with our business partners and identify ways that we can be a partner and not just a community a community resource that is always coming to them with our handout. Absolutely we want to give and get at the same time.
SPEAKER_01Which kind of brings me to my question about the farm to food bank that that we were talking about. Um I'm curious to know exactly a little bit more about how that works internally, but also I want to know if that helps fill that gap that you guys have between foods that are donated and foods that you're able to purchase um for for people who are coming to your pantry. Does that help alleviate some of that gap? Are they able to get it?
SPEAKER_02It alleviates about uh about 15% of that gap.
SPEAKER_01Wow, that's amazing.
SPEAKER_02It does, is it it needs to grow. It it and we're working on a pathway forward. We this was always part of the pathway forward. It just wasn't intended to be an immediate stop gap or a gap filler for a program that was was pulled away so quickly. Um, so we're just having to focus on how you know how we build that program quickly. And we have a funder that has made a commitment to that program to s to sponsor that investment for two years.
SPEAKER_03Oh, that's great.
SPEAKER_02So it was a half it was a quarter of a million dollars. They're sponsoring the inputs for this program, and we're growing this program, and they they want to see us be successful with this program. Um, we're using that as a springboard for other foundations and other uh givers to to join in to build out this project and be able to really see some gains in our ability to work with those farmers, create those job opportunities, and create a sustainable business model that works.
SPEAKER_01Another model that you guys have, which this is one of my I had no idea moments, and that's Brian Gray. He actually informed me that you guys can stretch one dollar into is it three meals?
SPEAKER_02It's three meals.
SPEAKER_01So for everyone to know how that works.
SPEAKER_02So how that works is you know, donated food has a value. Okay, and there is the the there are um accountants that put together this report annually and and they come out with it and say, okay, in Pasatank County, the value of a meal if you were to provide it through the local retail uh environment is three dollars and sixty-three cents per per person. Okay. Okay, so that is creates the number of we use that to factor what the budget is for the missing meals. So if there are a million missing meals, it's going to take $3.6 million to bridge that gap in the private sector, just for simplicity's sake. For us, because of the donations and our overhead costs being so low, we are able to take your dollar and turn that into three meals for the households because of the donations. Our costs to operate are are minimal and we're able to stretch that dollar as far as we can. We used to distribute 12 meals for a dollar because more of the food was donated, but because now more of the food is having to be purchased or we're having to subsidize it, that cost is becoming higher on us. So that's why the number is dwindling. We've seen we we're we're maintaining three meals for a dollar. And you know, as we're as we analyze that every year, we're we're just fortunate to be able to be able to keep that number consistent. And I I can't provide three meals for a dollar at home.
SPEAKER_01Right.
SPEAKER_02You know, I go to the store and my husband says, Good lord, what have you bought? You know, I said, not as much as you think I should have. Um, but and I think a lot of us feel that way when we go to the store. We're we're seeing more and more where you, you know, it does a dollar doesn't go nearly as far. Right. But with us, if you're donating to us, we're able to stretch that dollar and have an impact with your your neighborhood and your community that makes all the difference in the world for a family that's that's dealing with hunger. That's very impressive.
SPEAKER_01For people who do want to help you guys um further that gap past that 15%, what are things that people might not think about that they can and should donate to help you fill that gap?
SPEAKER_02You know, I I I would say first things first, if you are a farmer in this community and you grow an edible crop and want to talk about growing edible crops, call us. Call me. And my number is 252-312-7296. That's my cell number. And I I do answer my phone. Um, I want to talk to you. I want to talk to you about what farming looks like in partnership with the food bank and how we might think about next year and the year after for providing sustainability for a food supply chain that is necessary in this neck of the woods. And the advantage that you have in working with us is we're not farmers. We're not gonna come in and tell you how to do your job. Right. We're gonna tell you, we're gonna have a conversation about tell me what it will cost to do this. We're gonna take that information and go out to funders and ask them, would they be willing to underwrite the project? And if they are, then we're coming back to you and creating a relationship that is going to create uh a business opportunity for for the farmer and for the food bank, and it's going to be self-sustaining. Um, we're hoping that these models will build out and become self-sustaining by three year three and four. Um, we've seen where food banks have partnered across the United States with farmers, and they've said, we're gonna pay for all the inputs. You get to keep half that crop and sell it in the market. You're going to donate the other half. We're the other half belongs to the food bank. So that's our investment in you as a farmer to build out your capacity to be sustainable and grow your business model. And we want to work with those small farmers. We want to work with medium-sized farmers. Um, big farmers don't need us. And most of them working with us is on a scale is going to cost them dearly as opposed to what they've already got in place. But we want to have those conversations to say, this is what we can do together. And it may not work for you, but is there another farmer you think we should be talking to? I've sat down with farmers who've said, I'm not sure I wanted, I even wanted to have this conversation with you, Liz. And I'm like, that's okay. I really appreciate you showing up. You know, and at the end of this, I hope you'll you'll learn a little bit more about the food bank and hunger in our region, and you will point us in the direction of someone who you think we should talk to next. And before by the time it was over, he signed on. He was ready. So, you know, it's I think with farmers, farmers need a relationship to be built, and it needs to be built on trust and the ability to follow through on what you're saying. And for us as a food bank and as a nonprofit organization, we only have our reputation and our credibility. And a lot of times that's what gets the door open for us. And we need need to be able to be able to follow through on our promises. And um, and as long as I'm leading the organization and our board's leading the organization, I know that if we make promises, we're gonna we're gonna fulfill those promises. Um, and we look forward to being being a partner in this and not a just a a taker in the in the process.
SPEAKER_01What about for individual donations?
SPEAKER_02You know, individual donations. If you'd like to conduct a food drive, we encourage you to to donate to the local pantries. They they stock their shelves that way. If you'd like to um participate in a larger food drive, food drives are particularly um labor intensive. And uh when we look at the value of your time versus our time and the investment, the investment of time. People who want to do something tangible, where if you're working with little kids and they like to collect cans and show the visual for the kids, that's great. If not, you can donate for every dollar and we can we can acquire food with your donation. Absolutely so either way, either cans or cash, those go a long way towards helping us feed the feed the region. And right now is a great time to come in and get a tour. If your children are out of school, you want to understand how you can engage um with the food bank, we'd love to talk with you more about that. And you we're out at the uh Tidewater Way in Elizabeth City, right behind Big Daddy's. That's a commercial for them. Um, or South Park, um, the ball field. So we're right out there. We'd love to give you a give you a quick tour and show you, show you how your donations are really having an impact.
SPEAKER_01And you talked about in year three or four, you guys are hoping that that program will be self-sustainable. What does year five look like for you guys just overall? Like what are your five-year goals?
SPEAKER_02You know, our our five-year goals are that we have a sufficient workforce development program that is active in this community, providing skilled labor for jobs. Um, when I talk to COA, I talked to them about the landscape of uh inner the Interstate 87. And as the the landscape in Chesapeake, Norfolk, Portsmouth shows that uh the warehousing is going to come across the state line.
SPEAKER_01Okay.
SPEAKER_02And that warehousing job skill is gonna be necessary as these businesses build out the infrastructure. We run a warehouse, we run a logistics organization. How can we in turn turn that into an opportunity for a placement for people who are training on our campus to be placed in these potential job opportunities? That's where I see us building out the future of the organization. I see us providing more of food as medicine healthcare partnerships and becoming that aggregator in the community for those food boxes. I see us as being a collaborator on more of the food as medicine landscape with the farmers because they're growing the products that will provide for and create a higher nutritional value for the food that's that's in the boxes that are going out. I see us in a state association level providing more of the food for our sister food banks because it's grown here, and that becomes an economic driver for our food bank. So there's a lot of opportunity that needs to be explored, and nothing's off the table at this point. Um, and if if other food banks are doing it across the nation, we're learning from them and coming back and having a conversation. We were just on the on the phone last week with the main food bank director and talking about their farm to food bank program, and they put in a production facility and they are growing and packaging product. Now, I will be honest with you, they're getting out of it. Oh, hardly. But I'll tell you, half the battle is learning the lessons from others and learning what they were unsuccessful with. And in being unsuccessful, they were honest and candid with us and sharing. They went on all in with one farmer and decided that they were gonna do this scope and scale of an opportunity when they should have started small. Right. Wow, yeah. And that's what they shared with us. I said, that is a great case statement for how we should be looking at our business model for the next five years. And you know, not going all in on a on a wish and a pipe dream, but learning from the successes and failures. And they were just incredibly gracious with their time and talent and and said they would be happy for us to to talk with them more as we go down this path as to what we want to be.
SPEAKER_00It's so encouraging to to listen to you talk about uh the vision, the the the well going down in the years to come and what what you're doing right now, because it's absolutely it's running a business. You're running a business, and yes, it is doing all those good things and all the running in all the challenges, but it's running a business, and it makes me feel very good, and it should make our community feel very good that those that want to donate, those that want to contribute, businesses that want to work with you, um I don't get the impression that there is any waste whatsoever in the contributions, the efforts put forth, because you're gonna you're gonna run it like a very efficient business. And that get that gives me a lot of confidence.
SPEAKER_02We do, and I think that's a what a lot of people fail to recognize is um that this is a business. There the only difference is the we're not we're not um earning our uh earning uh income to pay shareholders. You know, we're earning income and using any resources that we have to put back into programs that feed people. So, you know, one of the things that we received a few years ago back in 2020 was a McKenzie Scott gift. Have we got time for me to touch on that? Absolutely. So that has been kind of a double-edged sword where people have said, what did you do with the money and how did you use it? Well, during the pandemic, of course, we built out our facility. We used part of the money for that build-out and put that teaching kitchen in and to put the the uh client choice pantry in and to build out our freezer and refrigeration capacity. We didn't need warehouse space per se, but we built out the warehouse space so that we could anticipate what the future needs of the organization were going to be. Right. So we didn't have to go to the community with a capital campaign because we received that gift.
SPEAKER_01Yes, absolutely.
SPEAKER_02Which is a huge burden that was lifted off the community as a result of that. However, we were also smart enough to use that gift as leverage to build out the capacity of our partner agencies in key areas. We we re-gifted ARPA money, over a million dollars worth of ARPA money, to partner agencies by buying them vans and trucks, by investing in their refrigeration and their um infrastructure on their facilities, putting in scales, putting in whatever was needed for refrigeration and storage, because the trend for us is to see that more of the food that we're receiving is perishable versus dry.
SPEAKER_01Right.
SPEAKER_02So that capacity we have to we can build it out on campus, but if we don't think at the agency level, how are they going to take it if we take it and there's nowhere to put it when they're when they're when they're waiting to do their distribution on a Saturday or a Wednesday night? So we invested money that way. We also invested in food supplies to feed additional people that were in line during the pandemic because of the disruption in jobs and workforces. Um we saw that money go through the organization very quickly. However, at the end of it, we still have $2 million in the bank.
SPEAKER_01That's amazing.
SPEAKER_02Yes. We have $2 million in the bank, and some funders and donors question why we have money. Or they say, don't give to the food bank because they have money in the bank. Well, you should give to the food bank because we're good stewards of the money. Right. And the fact that we're anticipating that we're gonna have refrigeration repairs, we're gonna have facility repairs, we're gonna have needs for the organization going forward and disruptions in income because of a catastrophic program reduction. And the board is gonna have to redirect some of the proceeds from that the that investment to backfill the budget shortfall. And that's what we've been doing with the funds. We've been using it to augment this last year. The board took a half million dollars in in proceeds and put it back into food for our neighbors. We made sure that the whatever gains we had on the $2 million, we put right back into programs because we had to. We couldn't turn around and say, well, we're just not going to feed you. So we put that back in in. And I think that's good stewardship. It's fiduciary responsibility of the board to manage those proceeds and to say that we're using them and we're thinking of the future. Prior to the pandemic and prior to the McKenzie Scott gift, we were a hand-to-mouth organization, just like most nonprofits. But, you know, and we could have spent every dime easily.
SPEAKER_00Right. And some would have.
SPEAKER_02And some and some have. And that's not being good stewards of those resources. McKenzie Scott gave us the latitude of giving that us that money with no restrictions. There were no conditions on that money. You spend it how you see the organization needs. We made sure that the organization is going to be stable for years to come by creating a quasi-endowment. Bravo. Absolutely. And, you know, a lot of folks they can choose to spend their money where they want. And we hope that by doing that, that they will think that the food bank has been the best stewards possible of the resources from all channels and making sure that we're here and we're stabilized and we're able to feed for the long term. And that it's not about, okay, you know, don't give them their money, your money. You give those organizations that have money money to continue the mission work so that they can continue to do the work. I had the the CEO of Feeding America when I talked to her about the gift from Mackenzie Scott, she says, Liz, she says, this is transformational for your food bank in northeastern North Carolina. I said, It is. She's I I said, because we've been living like our neighbors have been living, paycheck to paycheck, month to month. And it's not through anything that we're doing as far as mismanagement, but if you don't get that that lift up, you cannot be self-sufficient. We've now put the organization in a position to be self-sufficient to a degree and to be able to s to stabilize when a a a road we wind up with a with a bump in the road for the organization, for the region. And it's about the neighbors, it's about how we take care of them long term. And I think we've done that and and kudos to the board and to the team for being able to do that. If there's anything that I could say about my legacy when I leave this organization, one, don't put my face on anything. And two, you know, I want them to say that that we left the organization, I left the organization in a stronger position, and that it will survive whatever transitions come before it. So, and I appreciate the opportunity to come talk to you a little bit about the food bank. And of course, as you can tell, I'm a little passionate about what we do.
SPEAKER_01But I think that's what will really create that longevity. Passion is a driving force. And I think the more passion you have for something like this, the better it is for the community.
SPEAKER_00Absolutely.
SPEAKER_01Yes. Thank you for coming on. We really appreciate it.
SPEAKER_02Absolutely. It's my pleasure. And uh anytime you need somebody to talk, Brian would love to come talk to you about anything that has to do with public policy or community engagement with um um uh advocacy work, grassroots work. Um, and Diana could come talk to you about fundraising and activities. But you know, the the thing that I want to, the last words that I'll leave you with is thank you. Thank you to you for the for the opportunity. Thank you for to the community for the opportunity to represent and to for your trust in the Food Bank of the Albemarle. Um, we we're happy to be able to provide the service to the community, but we can't do it without each and every one of you.
SPEAKER_01Well, we thank you for what you do for the community, absolutely. For anybody who is looking for a little bit more information, visit their website at www.afoodbank.org. Uh they're also located, like Liz said, off of Weeksville Road at 109 Tidewater Way, right here in Elizabeth City. Thank you so much to all of our listeners. Please stay tuned for another episode soon.