Harvard Club of Alabama

Community Food Bank of Central Alabama

Deep Dives

Deep Dives are free site visits to selected nonprofit organizations that serve critical socioeconomic needs in Alabama. The CEO describes the work of the organization, its history, challenges, and needs. A tour of the facility provides a deeper understanding. Participants may optionally use a provided checklist to make observations and discuss what they observed and learned. Recommendations can be sent to the CEO. This Deep Dive is limited to 30 participants. Please send an email to our Events Chair to reserve your seat and you will receive a confirmation and checklist by reply email: Email John Whitman.

The Organization

The Community Food Bank feeds people in need today and fosters collaborative solutions to end hunger tomorrow. We supply 11 million meals per year to food pantries, shelters, and child programs across 12 counties of central Alabama. We also create healthy food access for especially vulnerable populations. We deliver fresh produce to seniors’ doorsteps, provide meals to children at risk of hunger when schools are closed, and partner with physicians to serve patients with chronic illnesses and first-time mothers in need.

In addition to these hunger relief activities, the Community Food Bank incubates social enterprises that promote nutrition, saves 6 million lbs. of wholesome food from going to waste in local landfills, and tests new initiatives that go beyond charity to create healthy food access for all.

Each month, we’re feeding over 70,000 people at risk of hunger in Central Alabama.

The CEO

Kathryn Strickland is Executive Director of the Community Food Bank of Central Alabama and member of the Harvard Club of Alabama. She also chairs the Alabama Food Bank Association and the Bold Goals Coalition’s Healthy Lifestyles Priority Group. Prior to moving to Birmingham in 2016, she served as director of multiple nonprofits including the Food Bank of North Alabama, LIFT Housing and the Community Mediation Center. While living in Bozeman, MT, she led adventures trips in locales including Yellowstone, the Tetons, Mongolia, Tahiti and Botswana.  A native of Birmingham, Strickland holds a M.A. from the Illinois School of Professional Psychology and a B.A. from Davidson College. In 2015 she was awarded the Alabama Association of Nonprofits’ annual scholarship to the Nonprofit Management Program at Harvard Business School.