Michael J. Halligan, President and CEO| Summer 2025
My time as a coach, father, and advocate has taught me so much. For instance, the many times I’ve seen kids approach obstacles as opportunities to overcome—despite the odds—has influenced my work and values in a profound way. I admire the optimism and energy of young people, and I know I’m not alone in this. Children often inspire us to do better, to be better.
Tragically, the potential of our youth is being atrophied by a hunger crisis in our nation. Data shows that the best chance at success for school-aged children starts with nourishment, but the prevalence of food insecurity in the United States is the highest it has been in over a decade. In Central and Eastern Kentucky, hunger affects 1 in 4 kids and teens; in nearly a third of our region, this is the reality for as many as 1 in 3 young people.
It’s absolutely unacceptable. And it doesn’t have to be this way. In fact, we’ve seen it before: Hunger ends when we work together—neighbors, policymakers, nonprofits, and philanthropists—to equitably increase food access and address the root causes of food insecurity.
God’s Pantry Food Bank is committed to ensuring the fundamental right of nourishment for all. Our devotion drives advocacy for the adequate funding of highly effective government nutrition programs like SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program). It fuels our efforts to empower more than 500 community-based partnerships and organize initiatives proven to reduce childhood hunger, including our Summer Meals, BackPack, and School Pantry programs.
Our neighbors, especially our youth, need urgent, collaborative action and a full commitment from us all. To see a future with a nourished, thriving life for every Kentuckian, we have to follow the example of our kids: Embrace our differences, learn from challenges, press forward with passion and bold ambition, lean into hope, and lead with a relentlessness that won’t take no for an answer.
