Rotary Presentation -- October 24, Samantha Kirstein

Posted by Erik Hulbert

Samantha Kirstein is the Executive Director of the Fairbanks Community Food Bank. She has been there since 1990, and taught us much about the great work that they do there.

As the Food Bank's website states:

"Founded in 1982, the Fairbanks Community Food Bank collects and redistributes donated food to individuals and agencies. Food donations are received from the local community and about 100 commercial vendors. Food is distributed through many programs including Food Boxes, Bone Builders, and Agency Shopping.

The Fairbanks Community makes a difference in the lives of neighbors by sharing resources. The people of Fairbanks truly live the lessons taught by the Stone Soup Legend –– Fairbanks Style. The vision of the Fairbanks Community Food Bank is:

To have no one in the Tanana Valley die of starvation
To have no child in the Tanana Valley go hungry
To provide food assistance to everyone who meets federal poverty guidelines, if it is requested"

Samantha stated the amazing fact that the Food Bank serves between 2,000 to 4,000 people on a regular basis, and that the food boxes they provide to people contain about 20 lbs. for each person. The amount of work that the Food Bank does is extraordinary, and provides a very valuable public service to our community.

The Food Bank is only the third food bank in the country to collect donations online. Their website is www.fairbanksfoodbank.org.