About Us
Barbara Oates, founding Executive Director, in 1982; Peter Werbicki, past President & CEO, in 2018.
Among the largest anti-hunger organizations in the United States, the Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina works every day to provide food to people in need while advancing long-term solutions to end hunger in our communities.
For more than 40 years, the Food Bank and our Branch locations have served as the central hub of a network that has grown to 700+ partner programs across a 34-county region — including free food markets, pantries, meal sites, and a host of initiatives serving children, adults and seniors. Together, we’re working to overcome hunger and create an environment where everyone in North Carolina can thrive.Â
Our Mission & Vision
At the Food Bank, we envision a future where no one goes hungry.
We know that hunger is more than a single empty stomach or individual experience. Hunger is a community-wide symptom of not having enough — not having enough nutritious food, enough income, enough voice in the decisions that impact us. It’s a symptom of barriers to employment, education, housing and healthcare
We all experience the effects of hunger in our communities. And together we can build a future where everyone has access to the food and essential resources we need to thrive. Where every voice matters. Where we all share responsibility for each other and our common good. No matter where we live, where we’re from or the color of our skin.
Through our network of 700+ free food markets, pantries, meal sites and delivery programs, we work systemically to achieve this vision.
Together, we nourish people facing hunger with healthy, culturally familiar foods. We build solutions to reduce poverty throughout the region. And we empower our communities to address hunger at its roots through outreach, advocacy and organizing for long-term change.
Because no one should go hungry…no matter where we live, where we’re from, or the color of our skin.
Our Commitment to Equity
All of us at the Food Bank are working toward a future where no one goes hungry. It’s a big vision, and we know we can’t reach it through food assistance alone. We have to take action to address hunger at its roots — to prevent food insecurity from happening in the first place.
This is what Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) is all about, and why equity is at the center of our work. Because hunger is so much more than a single empty stomach or individual experience. It’s a community-wide symptom of not having enough — whether that’s enough nutritious food, enough income, or enough voice in the decisions that impact us. It’s a symptom of barriers to employment, education, housing, and healthcare.
Our Strategic Plan to End Hunger
The pandemic shed much-needed light on systemic challenges hunger relief organizations have long worked to address. Too many members of our community are living one significant medical bill, one missed paycheck, one price increase away from being unable to consistently put food on the table.Â
Awareness of these challenges grew as many people experienced economic insecurity for the first time in their lives — offering first-hand experience in what it’s like to face impossible choices between paying for medications or utilities, gas or childcare, healthy food or the rent or mortgage. More and more people came to understand the longstanding realities of communities that have faced barriers and exclusion for generations.Â
This shared experience presents a critical opportunity to look deeper into what causes hunger and poverty in our communities. And the outpouring of community understanding and support positions organizations like ours to invest in approaches that support people on the cusp of food insecurity before we find ourselves needing the services of the hunger relief system.
That’s where our Strategic Plan comes in: a multi-year blueprint to not only nourish people, but to build long-term solutions that empower communities to prevent hunger from happening.
Together, we’re strengthening existing tactics and trying new approaches that bring us closer to our vision of a future where no one goes hungry.
We are members of Feeding America, a national organization supporting more than 200 food banks across the country, and the largest domestic hunger relief agency in the U.S.
There are a host of ways to make a difference right now in the fight to end hunger. If you’re able, please take a minute to lend your time, your voice, or your financial support as we write the Food Bank’s next chapter together!