Spotlight: Make a Difference Food Pantry
Julianne Shenk
JBS Nonprofit Consulting
2 February 2017
This month’s blog post is going to be a little different. I
do not typically highlight or promote specific organizations directly (with the
exception that if it brings actual tears to my eyes when I learn about it). I try to remain neutral as to not look like I
am purely a promotional consultant.*
I was flipping through the channels this afternoon and
stopped on the Harry Connick Jr Show. It was a show about exceptional children,
with an all child audience. I happened
upon the show’s last segment. Mr. Connick highlighted a young lady named
Mackenzie “Kenzie” Hinson and her nonprofit organization, Make A Difference
Food Pantry in North Carolina. She has founded the organization (she is a pre-teen!)
that operates a food bank that is set up to mimic a grocery store. This allows
clients to come in and shop for the food that they need. She wanted to take the
stigma of those in need being handed a box of food of unknown items and often spoiled
produce. Patrons of the MAD Pantry feel like shoppers and can shop for boxed as
well as fresh food that fit the needs of their family. She relies on donations
and volunteers to run her pantry.
This is an exceptional young lady that is doing so much for
her community. Hearing her speak and witnessing the good she is doing warmed my
heart. If you have a minute, I encourage you to check it out. You can find Kenzie and the Make A Difference
Food Pantry on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MakeADifferenceFoodPantry/
or http://www.madpantry.org/ ). You can
see a partial interview with Kenzie here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1ZHiLavTUo
*Disclaimer: I will promote your organization, that is part
of my job, for a fee. Organizations that I highlight on my blog, absent a
client contract, are as stated above…organizations that move me.
