Driven By Podcast

34. Did You Think Covid-19 Would Triple the Need For Food Relief? with Cathy Pope [Re-air]

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Hey Everybody- As I mentioned last week, while I get ready for the new year- I am resharing some of my favorite episodes from 2020 for January while I get ready for this year. Who would have thought almost one year later we would still be where we are with the Covid 19 pandemic. I reached out to Cathy to get an update on where things are now almost one year later with their work. She said that in 2019 the mid-south food bank provided 15 Million meals. IN 2020, they provided close to 42 Million meals. They have close to tripled their distribution since the beginning of Covid 19.

Mid-South Food Bank based out of Memphis, TN. Mid-South Food Bank is a part of Feeding America, a nation wide network of more than 200 food banks that feed more than 46 million people through food pantries, soup kitchens, shelters, and other community based organizations. Forbes ranks this as the second largest charity by revenue.

In this conversation, we talk:

  • what food insecurity looks like
  • what it takes to make this incredible work happen
  • the importance of community, and more.

Please enjoy my conversation with Cathy Pope.

RECAP

1:33 Starting a new organization

2:47 How feeding America works

3:38 The similarity between a hurricane and a pandemic

5:25 Pushing you at a faster pace

6:15 The impact of underemployment and food consumption

13:00 What ramping up looks like

15:00 How the pandemic pushed production in a positive direction

RESOURCES