We recently connected with Mary Knight and have shared our conversation below.

Mary, appreciate you joining us today. Can you talk to us about serving the underserved.

Established in 2020, Food for the Soul (FFTS) has experienced incredible growth and impacted those we serve in ways we could not have imagined. Organically grown out of the global pandemic, FFTS was an innovation the Sisters of the Community of the Transfiguration, who unanimously voted to realign the resources to meet the needs of those experiencing hunger. In 2023 Food for the Soul rescued 173,000 pounds of food which equates to144,457 meals provided to the community.
FFTS has become an essential part of the community, providing food distribution through hot meals, pantry boxes and monthly self-select food pantries. Some of the groups receiving meals from Food for the Soul: Queen City Street Choir, Talbert House, City Gospel Mission, NKY Emergency Shelter, YWCA Domestic Violence Shelter, St. Monica’s Recreational Center.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Mary Knight, Director of Food for the Soul, I have worked for the Community of the Transfiguration for over 13 years and has over 20 years of experience in Senior Marketing and Program Management. Family life is everything to me. I feel my greatest accomplishment in life are my three sons, Kevin, Rachon and Aaron and the added bonus of grandchildren. My enthusiasm for fresh, homemade tasty food combined with a passion for service and her childhood upbringing with the current growth and success of FFTS.

Have you ever had to pivot?

What an incredible story for Food for the Soul ministry (FFTS)! Over the last three plus years, FFTS has engaged with and impacted our community in an amazing way! If you will indulge me for a moment, I would like to highlight the success in review: Organically grown out of a global pandemic, FFTS was birthed when the leadership of the Sisters of the Community of the Transfiguration unanimously voted on my proposal to realign the resources of the Transfiguration Spiritual Center (TSC) kitchen staff to meet the needs of the community at large instead of laying them off because TSC was closed in March of 2020 as a result of the Global Pandemic.
Through partnerships forged with non-profit organizations such as The FreeStore Food Bank, Master Provisions, LastMile Food Rescue, and La Soupe, FFTS “rescued” approximately 500,000 pounds of food and that equates to 416,666 meals distributed in the community. FFTS has become an essential part of the community providing hot meals with desserts, pantry boxes, monthly self-select food pantries, Nutritional cooking classes and weekly lunches.
We believe that we need to be a healthy food resource for our neighbors to help reclaim health, self, and a sense of shared community. And that is only the beginning.

Any advice for managing a team?

Treat people the way you want to be treated…. Always operating from a place of Integrity and Respect

Contact Info:

• Website: foodforthesoulct.org
• Instagram: @foodforthesoulministry
• Facebook: foodforthesoulct
• Linkedin: foodforthesoulct

Image Credits
James Harwell for photos I have the rights.