By Ann Marie Byrd, Feature Writer
The Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina will be holding its annual Chef’s Feast on June 22, 2023, from 5:30pm-8:00pm in Maddocks Hall at the North Carolina History Center. It will showcase a decadent array of local signature dishes from Cork Wine & Bistro Executive Chef Mike Lynch, The Flavor Hills Chef Morgan from Jacksonville, The Flame Chef Smoke, MJ’s Bar & Grill Chef Mike and Chef Mark, Sara’s Big Apple Chef Sara Walston, Broad Street Takeout Chef Kurtis Stewart, Bistro 252 Chef Terrell Southerland, and master brewer Lindsay Shortway from Shortway Brewing Co.
This food-tasting event is a collaboration of the Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina and several of the region’s most celebrated chefs. Guests will enjoy a wide variety of food and an open bar of regional and local beers and wines, live music, a live and silent auction. With outdoor terraces overlooking the Trent and Neuse Rivers—where everything comes together—it is sure to be a night to remember.
“In 2020, Feeding America named us the #1 food bank of the year, and we are a four star rated charity on Charity Navigator,” says Candi Parker, New Bern Branch Director of the Food Bank. “We are good stewards of our dollars, donations, and initiatives. This unique event at Mattocks Hall, will include bringing in seven of the areas greatest chefs from three of the five counties we serve, and inspiring guest speakers. Our generous premiere sponsors for the event are Food Lion, Captain Ratty’s, Carolina East Foundation, Frito Lay, News Channel 12, and many more of our favorite hometown players and businesses.”
Just recently, the Food Bank has relocated to 1702 Red Robin Lane, next to Lowes and behind McDonalds on MLK, expanding their physical space from 5,000 square feet to 30,000 square feet. “The new space is an old beer bottling factory, and it is just perfect for our needs,” says Candi. “We now have huge refrigeration and drive through freezing units, along with multiple loading docks that will allow numerous trucks to load at the same time, which in disaster response will be very beneficial.”
The Food Bank in New Bern is one of seven branches, within a network of 34 counties as a whole. The local branch covers the counties of Craven, Pamlico, Jones, Onslow and Carteret.
“The New Bern branch of the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina partners with 65 local non-profits and churches,” says Candi. “Since June of last year, the Food Bank has provided over six million pounds of food to our partner agencies directly from the New Bern branch; an additional 2.5 million pounds of food has been distributed from the local retail grocers we work with. The retail donation program ensures food from our local grocers is not wasted. It is then picked up by our non-profit partners and distributed to families. What we found, a long time ago, was that stores were clearing their shelves and throwing away a great deal of food—like meat that was going to expire in three days. We collaborated with grocers to rescue this food and then were able to distribute it to the nonprofits and churches i.e. our partners. Our partners pick up the food so we don’t collectively exhaust both of our resources by adding stops. We also work with local farmers, corporate brands, and federal and state programs. In this way, we have been quietly working behind the scenes in our area for many years.”
Locally, the Food Bank supports non-profit organizations such as the Filling Station, Religious Community Services (RCS), True Justice, Promise Place, and Fishes and Loaves in Pamlico County, amongst many others.
“We have small pantries in churches and we also serve The Gathering Place in Havelock; we are serving so many missions around us. By supporting The Food Bank, you support numerous missions. We have been quietly and humbly beating the drum for many years, but the New Bern branch is still a blank canvas,” says Candi. “We are primarily supported by many local individual donors- your neighbors, but our corporate sponsors are also critical to our success, such as the relationship with have developed with Starbucks and Food Lion.”
The volunteer program with the Food Bank is new and they have recently received support from New Bern Christian Academy and New Bern High School, amongst others. The local master gardener’s organization has donated over 8,000 pounds of produce per year for quite some time, providing fresh veggies to the community, and therefore raising the quality of the food that is being donated. “We are not just providing canned food,” says Candi. “We are very conscious of nutrition, 60% of the product we give our partners at no cost is fresh produce, and 40% is shelf stable.”
The Food Bank is dependent on its volunteers to make it all happen. Since June of last year, they have logged 3,541 volunteer hours. But they always need more help.
“We are now experimenting with pop-up markets. We are serving individuals directly in resilient communities and empowering them by providing meals that are distributed on a local level straight to the hands of families in need,” says Candi. “Right now, 340 plus families in Jones county are supported by this program. This is one of many examples. This is a new concept, and we are taking our pop-up markets a step further by implementing other programs to help our seniors. The New Bern branch provides over 600 senior boxed meals a month in our community. The ingenuity is that we have partnered with Grub Hub to deliver the meals. In the beginning, Grub Hub was absorbing the cost, but we were then able to obtain a grant for five to six dollars a box to cover the expense for the next few years. This program has been wildly successful throughout our state. Seniors can depend on nutritious food going straight to their door.”
To support the Food Bank, round up or donate a few dollars when you shop at Harris Teeter, Food Lion, and Piggy Wiggly, and generously support the donation drives that happen annually. Donate your time helping to package food. Send in a financial contribution—or come to a great cause on June 22nd at the History Center for the Food Banks annual Chef’s Feast! One dollar provides 5 meals at The Food Bank, and $0.97 cents of every dollar is returned to food and programs. Your money goes a long way at this non-profit. Hosting a local food drive is also a great way to get involved.