Feeding the Lowcountry in 2022
In 2022, LCFB hosted 174 Mobile Pantry and Fresh for All distributions across all 10 counties and made 328 Fresh Xpress deliveries to agency partners so they could conduct no-cost farmer’s market-style distributions. Due to these distributions, LCFB and its partners are on track to distribute more than 38 million pounds of food this year – that equates to more than 32 million meals!
Did you know that more than 40% of the food distributed by LCFB and its partners in 2022 was delicious, nutrition-packed fresh produce – this is roughly a 5% increase from 2021!
Helping Neighbors Thrive at Any Age
The Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP, aka Seniors’ Boxes) provides consistent, high-quality food for seniors each month. In 2022, LCFB increased its caseload by 20% and served more of our senior neighbors than ever before!
Harvesting Good for the Community
As COVID-19 normalized, LCFB’s volunteer program resumed its pre-COVID patterns and LCFB was able to offer more volunteer opportunities in the warehouse.
LCFB volunteers sorted and bagged 200,000 pounds of sweet potatoes and 80,000 pounds of apples for our neighbors to enjoy. Way to go, Hunger Heroes!
Nourishing the Lowcountry
LCFB expanded the Food for Health (FFH) pilot program in partnership with MUSC, Fetter Health Network, HopeHealth, and St. James Health & Wellness. FFH reaches patients who screen positive for food insecurity and provides them with emergency food assistance and referrals to local food pantries.
This year LCFB’s Nutrition Team launched an online learning module for partners with information on how to create a welcoming food pantry environment, how to plan & budget for food pantries that let neighbors who seek food assistance choose the food they want to take home, and how volunteers and staff can support am inviting pantry.
Leading the Fight Against Child Hunger
LCFB brought back Kids Café partners who had not served after-school meals since the onset of COVID-19. Through Kids Café and other child hunger program sites, Fresh for Kids initiatives served around 800 children daily and distributed more than 80,000 pounds of fresh produce to students and their families.
Improving the Ways We Serve Our Neighbors
Through LCFB’s Great Ideas initiative, the LCFB Receiving team now uses a tablet to record all inbound food we receive from our grocery partners. This has reduced the time it takes to update new food inventory in our partners’ portal, and, in turn, has created a more efficient and manageable food ordering process for partners.
LCFB continued its work with ArcGIS mapping technology to identify food access gaps. This information helped LCFB build capacity with existing partner agencies and also build new partnerships to better address our neighbors’ needs across the 10-county service area.
Supporting Our Partner Agencies
This year, LCFB prioritized its investment in Agency capacity. In 2022, our partners received large-scale refrigeration units (Conexes and walk-in coolers), commercial-grade reach-in refrigerators and freezers, laptops and tablets, shelving, tents and tables, installation of concrete slabs that enable larger deliveries, and grant funding to support additional needs. These items made it possible for our partners to expand their services and reach more neighbors.
Food Lion Leadership Conference Events in LCFB’s Northern Region were a huge success in 2022. In partnership with our friends at Food Lion, two partners received pantry makeovers and LCFB held six sponsored food distributions – including one that served hot, prepared meals.
2022 also welcomed back Agency Conference. With nearly 200 participants from partner agencies, three fantastic speakers, and a day full of engagement and learning, Agency Conference was back and better than ever!
View our keynote speech from Dr. Tracey Bailey:
Memorable Events
In 2022, Chefs’ Feast reverted back to an in-person event. Held at a new location this year, the 23rd annual Chefs’ Feast was a smaller, more intimate event than in years past and raised a total of $440,834!
In September, the 2nd annual Walk to Fight Hunger was moved to a new location and included both a 5K option and a one-mile option. 406 attendees, 27 sponsors, and seven community partners came out to Wannamaker Park to fight hunger in the Lowcountry and raised $90,000 to help create nourishing meals for our neighbors who experience hunger.
Thank you, Donors!
Donor support remained strong and proved that LCFB has the BEST donors in the world! LCFB’s Development team reported a 50.98% donor retention rate (the human services sector averages 47.62%), $240 average gift size, and more than 41,075 gifts processed through the first week of December.
What’s to Come in 2023?
LCFB secured a plot of land for an upgraded Yemassee-area regional food center in the Southern Region! Plans are underway to start the build in 2023.
About the Lowcountry Food Bank: Feed. Advocate. Empower.
The Lowcountry Food Bank serves the 10 coastal counties of South Carolina and distributed more than 40 million pounds of food in 2021. The Lowcountry Food Bank helps fight hunger by distributing food to more than 250 partner agencies including on-site meal programs, homeless shelters and emergency food pantries. The Lowcountry Food Bank advocates on behalf of those who experience hunger and helps empower people to make healthy and nutritious food choices. For more information, visit the Lowcountry Food Bank website.
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