resilience North County Food Bank: A Ship to Weather the Storm By Kristi Hawthorne The North County Food Bank has been feeding hungry people and families for years. It’s what they do and they do it well. They distribute food to senior programs, food pantries, soup kitchens, shelters, students and school programs. When the COVID19 crisis hit and food demands grew overnight, their staff and volunteers didn’t panic. As the need grew, they simply rose to a whole new level of readiness. Jim Floros, CEO, said he has been so impressed by his staff and volunteers and their ability to overcome obstacles and adapt to the rising need. Their great reputation in the community and their preparedness has paid great dividends as they adapt to meet new challenges. Floros and the Food Bank’s vice presidents collectively have 47 years of non-profit experience, with 800 years of collective experience in the entire staff. The North County Food Bank is considered one of the top two non-profits in the State of California. He credits this to their like mindedness towards a common goal, feeding people. They seek to hire people who have the mindset to create and cultivate a culture of productivity and purpose, while providing people both food and dignity. Floros also credits the excellence in which their nonprofit is run. Poorly run organizations
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can eek out an existence in the best of times, but flaws are exposed in crisis. However, his staff pivoted quickly to meet the crisis head on. The Food Bank went from providing food to 350,000 people a month to 600,000 nearly overnight. Because their sites are essential and exempt from executive order, staff and some volunteers have been working 14 to 16 hours a day since the crisis began to help meet the demand. When the crisis first began, the impact was immediate and the public started to “freak out”, hoarding toilet paper, bottled water and clearing food off grocery shelves the team realized that one aspect of their purpose would be to convey poise and respect to all those in need. Jim Floros says “we are the buffer” from the chaos and anxiety. The Food Bank saw lines doubled, and in the midst of the crisis they sought to remove barriers to distribution. The team knew their level of preparedness and together said, “We got this”. They reached out to their network of 500 partners and sought to open supply chains. They developed a plan for four mass distribution sites in stadiums, fairgrounds, etc. at which people could drive through to receive food. They distributed 700,000 pounds of food in just two weeks and encountered 1,000 cars at a time, turning away another 2,000 to 3,000.
Summer 2020 | www.oceansidechamber.com
