Dear Friends,

Like me, I am sure you are looking at your calendar wondering how we are half way through 2019 already!

This season has our gardens in bloom, and we are thankful for the produce coming in our doors from them, as well as from our farming and retail partners. We at the Food Bank are now thinking about summer, and the different challenges these months bring to the people we serve.

Increased need for childcare. Increased expense for energy. No school breakfasts and lunches. Families on budgets that are already stretched face even more stress in summer months.

We recently heard a heartening story from one of our partner agencies, Bountiful Blessings, that I want to share with you. This agency serves communities in Greene County, and was visited by a boy and his younger sister during their summer meals program. Agency volunteers noticed immediately how protective the brother was, making sure his sister got through the door first, and got her meal first. The adults watched as the brother took a meal for himself but was not eating it. When asked if anything was wrong with the food, the boy responded no, but that he needed to save it for his other younger sister, who was at home.

The volunteers were able to assure the boy that they had food he could take home with him for his sister and family, and that he could eat his meal – he didn’t have to go without.

It’s painful to hear about the hard choices people facing hunger must make every day, but to come face to face with a child making these sacrifices is heartbreaking and makes clear the important work we all must come together to do.

I am thankful for our partner agencies, who are on the front lines, fighting hunger each and every day. I am thankful for the work of our staff, who help support our agencies and programs. And I am thankful for you – our community of donors who ensure that families and children facing hunger can eat all summer long.

Thank you for all you do,

Peter Werbicki 
President & CEO 
Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina

President/CEO Peter Werbicki

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