New CEO takes reins at Blue Ridge Area Food Bank as federal food pantry cuts loom

Yahoo

3 days ago

The Blue Ridge Area Food Bank has a new chief executive officer – Kari Jorgensen Diener.
The Blue Ridge Area Food Bank serves 25 counties and eight cities through distribution centers in Charlottesville, Lynchburg, Winchester, and its headquarters in Verona. The bank supports about 171,200 guests each month.
'I am honored to join the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank and continue its impactful legacy,' said Diener. 'I look forward to building on the strong relationships already in place and collaborating with staff, volunteers, partners, and supporters to eliminate hunger and support thriving communities.'
Michael McKee, the food bank's previous CEO, retired this past summer after a 12-year career with the food bank. In June, McKee appeared on CNN, concerned about cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and cuts to federal funding for food banks and pantries in the 'Big Beautiful Bill' passed in July. With those cuts, McKee told CNN, 'We could actually begin to see our pantry network begin to collapse.'
According to Kim Blosser, the chair of the food bank's board of directors, the food bank's next board meeting will be focused on the changes brought by the bill, as did the Federation of Virginia Food Banks.
"There will eventually be more costs moved back to the state and, so that's a harder one for the food banks to know how that's going to impact [us] but clearly it will have an impact on state budgets," Blosser said. "All of it are things that I know Michael was already looking at and talking about with his colleagues throughout Virginia, and then also through Feeding America, and then Kari will continue that conversation to see what our impacts are most likely going to be. From there, they will work on plans and the board will look on how that impacts us financially but, more importantly, how this is going to impact those that need food assistance that we are trying to service each and every day. That's our biggest, obviously our biggest concern."
The bill could also impact SNAP benefits. While SNAP does not directly impact food bank operations, more SNAP cuts would leave more people with food insecurity, who would then turn to the food banks for support.
"We're just not sure yet what the full scope of the impact is going to be," Blosser said. "What we know, even just with the costs right now, we're seeing more clients all across Virginia but certainly in our region. More individuals needing to utilize the food banks than even during the pandemic. We already have a tremendous amount of demand and so we're just trying to make sure if this creates even more demand, how we can meet that."
The food bank currently helps an average of 171,200 people each month, a drastic increase from the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. In fiscal year 2019, the average was 103,500 individuals each month. In almost every year since the pandemic began, the average monthly visitors have increased; 118,000 in 2020, 118,300 in 2021, 109,500 in 2022, 127,500 in 2023, and 148,200 in 2024.
In the meantime, Diener will take the reigns and continue preparing for what cuts could be coming.
"The Blue Ridge Area Food Bank is an extremely well run [food bank]," Blosser said. "This was, for a new CEO coming in, it's somewhat one of those dream jobs. There are not big problems that need to be fixed within the organization. They have a very strong executive leadership team that's been there for many years. She's coming into, thankfully, a really good, well-run organization that had a very strong CEO. ... It's really just taking where they were, which was already high-performing, and figuring out how we're going to adapt to the changes that coming and how we're going to move the food bank forward."
Diener was previously the executive director of the Refugee Self-Reliance Initiative, a network of 400 organizations where, according to its website, the team is 'helping refugees become self-reliant and achieve a better quality of life.'
"Throughout my career, my work has focused on forging partnerships with a broad range of stakeholders to prevent and combat poverty," Diener said. "Central to that has always been helping people leverage their own strengths and helping communities build resilience and self-reliance."
The food bank's board of directors selected Diener after a year-long national search, ending up with a local candidate.
"We were thrilled that we had an applicant that came to the top that was already living in our area and knew our area, so we're very excited she started," Blosser said. "She'd doing a great job already. The senior staff is thrilled to have her. People are very impressed with her once they meet her and get to know her."
Diener lives in the Shenandoah Valley and is the chair of the Board of Gift and Thrift in Harrisonburg. She moved to Harrisonburg about four years ago with her family after working abroad for 15 years. She also plays oboe in the Eastern Mennonite University community orchestra and mentors refugee families through Church World Service. Through volunteering at a local food pantry, Diener saw how critical the service is to families without the resources or employment needed to buy groceries.
'The support they received – delivered with dignity and care – gave them the breathing room they needed to get on their feet during a transitional time in their lives,' Diener said. 'I think about them often, and about the many others who rely on charitable food assistance services when I reflect on the Food Bank's mission.'
Diener's first 90 days will be full of meetings with volunteers, fellow employees, board members, and other members of the food pantry's community.
"It's getting to know the full scope of the operations and to really get to know our pantry partners and to get to know the full breath of this service region," Blosser said. "The Blue Ridge Area Food Bank is very large."
Anyone who wants to financially support the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank can do so on its website, https://www.brafb.org/.
To learn more about Diener, check out the food bank's first and second press releases.
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Lyra Bordelon (she/her) is the public transparency and justice reporter at The News Leader. Do you have a story tip or feedback? It's welcome through email to [e-mail]. Subscribe to us at newsleader.com.
This article originally appeared on Staunton News Leader: New CEO takes reins at Blue Ridge Area Food Bank as federal food pantry cuts loom
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