Tandem Past Parent and Trustee Helps Steer Blue Ridge Area Food Bank

Karen Ratzlaff, parent of Tandem alums Eli Ratzlaff (TFS ‘16) and Logan Ratzlaff (TFS ‘19) and current member of Tandem’s Board of Trustees, has been a beloved member of and volunteer for the Tandem community since 2008, participating in community events like games, concerts and fundraisers as parent, super Badgers fan and trustee. She also serves a vital role in the larger community as the Chief Philanthropy Officer of the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank (BRAFB), a position she has held for almost 7 years. It’s never been a more important role than now and we're proud of Karen and the good work she and the Food Bank provide to our community during this challenging time. 

As a member of the Food Bank's leadership team, much of Karen's time these days is spent in consultation with colleagues trying to adapt and respond to the crisis and the needs of our community, while keeping Food Bank staff, volunteers, and food pantry partners safe. “Our primary strategy has been to help our partner agencies – mostly food pantries – stay open, and it is paying off,” Karen says. “Only 12 of 205 partner agencies have closed, and we have been able to recruit other existing agencies to pick up the slack. Food banks nationally, on average, are reporting that 40% of their partner agencies have closed, which largely accounts for the miles-long lines of cars queued up at food banks that you see in the news. Our emphasis has been on supplying pantries with pre-packed boxes of food (packed by volunteers in our warehouses) – mostly purchased food that we pass along at no cost to agencies – to compensate for the loss of grocery store donations and to make food distribution easier for them to handle with fewer volunteers.”

 

As the Food Bank's chief fundraiser and storyteller, Karen spends the rest of her time working with her team to communicate gratitude and engage the community in this fight, for the long-term, through fundraising, communications, and volunteering. “I am in awe of the generous response from people who want to help, at the same time that I am anxious about the growing demand and the indications that the economic crisis will be worse than anything we've seen before,’ she shares. “However, I am in an enviable position. Doing the work I do, I get to see the very best in humanity right now - neighbors helping neighbors. I'm the lucky person who gets to facilitate that support, and it's very rewarding. I couldn't be prouder to be a food banker at this point in time!”

Most people don't realize how much territory the Food Bank covers (see details here) - an astonishing 25 counties and 8 cities across central and western Virginia. The Charlottesville warehouse is one of four distribution locations that helps serve over 22,000 people each month. “The situation is changing rapidly day-by-day and we are adapting all the time,” Karen says.  “For example, right now we have pulled back on the number of volunteers visiting our warehouses because we know that (unfortunately) the virus has yet to hit its peak in central Virginia and we want to keep staff and volunteers safe. But beyond the health crisis, the economic crisis will be long asting. We will need helpers for many months to come.”

How can we help Karen and the Food Bank? If there’s any silver lining in this new normal, the Food Bank says, it’s that we live and work in communities where people care about each other and about folks in need. The Food Bank receives many inquiries from people who want to know what they can do for others impacted by this pandemic. Here what they suggest: