My Nonprofit Reviews

Soul Food was founded in 2015 by Bob and Alisa Gound. I loved what they were doing for the children of Johnson County that were faced with hunger. In 2017 I suggested that they expand into Floyd County and Alisa said you do that Brian. I prayed about it and God brought Prestonsburg Health Care nursing home to me. Cindy Porter, activities director, said they would pack the food for the children using residents and staff. It would give the residents purpose and help with physical therapy. This relationship was beautiful and inspiring for a few years where I would drop off the food and pick up the packed totes to be delivered.

We were faced with a couple of barriers, one being COVID, and the other being Bob and Alisa relocating to Georgetown, KY. We found a great group of volunteers at Destination Community Church to pick up the packing when the nursing home was restricted because of COVID. `With Bob and Alisa's move, they were looking for someone to take the organization over. I did my best to find someone but everyone seemed reluctant because of time and financials. I couldn't ever imagine not providing food to these children and dissolving the program was not an option for me. I decided to take the program over at the beginning of 2022. Since then we have added 2 more schools and fed 300 children each week during the 2023 school year.

Currently, the board consists of 9 individuals who have the heart for what they do. One of the board members Renee McCoy is the director of Hope in the Mountains a women's recovery program. She has provided women in recovery the opportunity to volunteer with each of our packings. We love having these women help serve a greater cause than ourselves. It's magical to see how Soul Food touches lives and helps individuals beyond the students we feed.

It has been tough at times juggling Soul Food with my regular job. I do get a little anxious about our funding at times but can say this, God says don't be anxious about anything and He sticks to his words. Through faith and a loving God, Soul Food continues to meet its financial obligations because of people, businesses, organizations, and a community that sees the impact of the program. 100% of our funding goes to feeding these children since Soul Food pays no administrative fees, no employees, and is 100% volunteer based.