Food Bank seeks to make offerings more nutritious

‘One-third of the households served by the Food Bank have one or more working adults.’ /
‘One-third of the households served by the Food Bank have one or more working adults.’ /

Lisa Roth Blackman has been named senior director of development and communications at the Rhode Island Community Food Bank. She is returning to the Food Bank after serving as director of development for Crossroads Rhode Island since January 2004. She has a B.A. in English from Dartmouth College.

PBN: What are your responsibilities?
BLACKMAN: I oversee all fundraising, marketing and communication efforts for the Rhode Island Food Bank. Unlike a lot of other agencies that may receive a large percentage of their budget from state or federal funds, the Food Bank raises about 90 percent of the budget through private donations – from individual giving, direct mail, corporate and foundation giving or special events. Our challenge is to continually remind our supporters of how far their donations go, and to attract new supporters.

PBN: Can you talk about the importance of the Food Bank?
BLACKMAN: One-third of the households served by the Food Bank have one or more working adults. We are seeing more families who are struggling despite the fact that there are working adults in the household. The rising costs of living, housing, health care and food have not been matched by an increase in salaries, so families struggle to make ends meet each month. The food we provide is an invaluable resource that can help these families stretch their limited dollars further.

PBN: What are some changes you look to initiate?
BLACKMAN: One of the things we are focusing on as we look at our revised strategic plan is improving the nutritional quality of the food we distribute. The board is very committed to providing the highest quality of food within our budget and limitations. Getting vegetables and fruits into the community, both fresh and frozen or canned as well as increasing the amount of protein, which is always a challenge. The protein is harder to come by in donations because it is more expensive for people to purchase to donate, just as it is more expensive for our clients to purchase. Meeting our goals of improved nutritional quality and increased nutrition education will require more funds, so that message will be a big part of our fundraising and communications in the coming year. •

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