Mike Halligan
When Mim Hunt returned to Lexington in the 1950s after living in New York City, where she worked as a social worker, she turned her attention to those in need in her own hometown. Hunt began distributing groceries from the back of her station wagon, and stockpiled food donations at her home on Parkers Mill Road, which friends soon began calling “Mim’s pantry.” “I don’t fill these shelves,” she famously quipped. “God does. This is God’s Pantry.”
From those humble beginnings in 1955, God’s Pantry Food Bank has grown to comprise four pantries in Fayette County, along with five distribution warehouses and a multitude of partner organizations across Central and Eastern Kentucky. While its scope has grown, the tradition of neighbor helping neighbor remains the same.
“This whole network has grown organically over the past 65 years because of the confidence, camaraderie and passion that everyone has for the mission,” said Food Bank CEO Mike Halligan, whose professional background includes working with Feeding America, as well as the Quaker Oats Company, PepsiCo and ConAgra Foods.
Mike and spouse Lori Halligan, executive director of the Living Arts and Science Center, moved to Lexington from Chicago in 2017. “One of the first things we noticed was how committed people are to making a difference in one another’s lives,” Mike said. “There are a lot of really compassionate people here, and the need is so great.”
Can you tell us about the scope of God’s Pantry Food Bank and its reach?
When we meet with a donor, or a volunteer or someone who hasn’t actually been to the food bank itself, and they walk into our warehouse, we often see their jaw drop their eyes pop out of their head. Because their visualization of food banking is the local food pantry or a shelter, where people congregate to access food. And then they walk into an operating warehouse, where right now we have more than $5 million worth of inventory. They see mechanized pallet jacks and semi-tractor trailers backing into the docks and being loaded with entire truckloads of food.
And then we talk about the 50 counties and 16,000 square miles that we serve and our fleet of 15 trucks that travel 235,000 miles a year, just in Central and Eastern Kentucky. We talk about the 400-plus food pantry and meal programs that we work through every day, where folks go when they are in a circumstance of experiencing hunger and need access to food. It’s a parallel supply chain to the food and grocery industry, but in the nonprofit world.
Where does the food come from?
There are three primary sources. About half of our food comes through donations, and those donations primarily come from grocery stores, food manufacturers, wholesalers, restaurants and other sources. That’s about 50 percent of our business, and about half of that we actually pick up from grocery stores all over Central and Eastern Kentucky. So, think about products that grocery stores aren’t selling for whatever reason, or they’re ready to do a trade-off on a merchandising promotion, or produce that may not be perfect in its presentation. It’s all still absolutely wholesome and consumable. We pick up about 10 million pounds of food a year, just from those grocery stores.
About half of that product is picked up directly by agencies we partner with, who take it directly to their pantry or meal programs so that it can get to people who are food insecure faster and not sit in our warehouse. We turn our inventory about once every two, to three weeks. Produce we turn in a day or two, and maybe three or four days for other perishable foods.
Then about a third of our goods come through USDA government commodity programs, and the last 10 percent or so we actually purchase. We spend in the neighborhood of $2 million a year buying food that we don’t get in adequate quantities. We try to have a similar mix of categories as a typical grocery store.
Right now, we’re seeing a little bit less on the donation side and a bit more on the USDA government commodity side. We’re also purchasing more. Our mix is a little different in terms of source, and that’s because of COVID-19 and the challenges in the food and grocery industry, where supplies have tightened. Consumers, reasonably and rightfully so, are nervous and so they’re stocking up. We’re still getting phenomenal donations, just not quite as much on a percentage basis.
Has need on the client side also increased?
Absolutely. We measure this a couple of different ways, one of which is how many pounds of food we move in a month. Over the past six months, two of those months we’ve moved 4 million pounds and two have been 3.9 million pounds. Prior to COVID, it was more like 3.6 million pounds, so we’re up around 20 percent from a demand standpoint since March.
How do people gain assistance through God’s Pantry?
It depends on what county you’re talking about. Generally speaking, people seek food assistance through a referral process. In Fayette County, for example, we partner with more than 200 social service organizations, such as the Nest, Greenhouse17, the United Way and the Community Action Council. They will identify individuals as being food insecure, and connect them with our organization.
One of the things we focus on is getting new resources into the communities where hunger exists. It’s not a one-size-fits all solution. Pikeville is different than Lexington, and both are different than Harlan, Pulaski or Scott counties, for example. Even neighborhoods within those counties. We work with community leaders, nonprofits and faith-based organizations to support the needs on the ground and meet people where they are, and to do so in a very respectful and unassuming kind of way.
I imagine clients also come from all different backgrounds.
There are many households that are one paycheck away from falling into food insecurity. Now, having said that, I would also tell you that statistically there are more people of color — particularly African American and Latino — on a per capita basis who find themselves food insecure, versus other ethnic backgrounds. That has more to do with socioeconomics and the larger issues of poverty and other factors that can lead to food insecurity.
I would also tell you that hunger doesn’t discriminate. Throughout the pandemic, we’ve met people from all ethnic backgrounds who never expected to be hungry and were very secure in their livelihoods. And all of a sudden, they find themselves needing food assistance for the first time, or needing to figure out how to balance between medical, housing, transportation and food costs. We’re just grateful to be able to help.
What, as an organization, do you need the most?
The first thing I would say is donors, whether it’s individuals or from the local business community and whether it’s in the form of cash donations, food donations or volunteering.
I will say we’ve continued to see an outpouring of generous support from the donor community, even during a time that’s unprecedented and daunting. You know, earlier this year, we got a lot of donations that were exactly $1,200 [the amount of stimulus checks]. It’s been really heartwarming, and it gives me great confidence in the compassion of people. We’ve absolutely seen that. And, even though things may look a little different, it’s allowed us to gather and distribute more food than we ever have. Yes, we’re feeding people, but we’re also serving another important part of our mission, which is delivering hope.