Press Release
The Lowcountry Food Bank announced today the establishment of the Lowcountry Food Bank Foundation and the Patricia S. Walker Endowment to provide a permanent, sustainable source of income to supplement annual dollars raised by the Lowcountry Food Bank. The creation of the new 501(c)(3) Foundation was unanimously approved by the Lowcountry Food Bank Board of Directors in fall 2020.
The Endowment is named in honor of Pat Walker, who retired as President and CEO from the LCFB in January of 2021, leaving a legacy of unmatched growth and service to the Lowcountry community.
The Foundation enables the Lowcountry Food Bank to further expand access to healthy food and increase its capacity to reach more people in outlying areas of the 10 coastal counties of South Carolina it serves.
The Foundation will donate investment earnings annually to the Lowcountry Food Bank and serve as a dependable source of income that will provide perpetual support to the organization’s mission to lead the fight against hunger in our community.
The Endowment will fund critical programs and needs, including senior and child hunger programs, mobile food distributions and emergency food in times of natural disaster and crisis.
All Foundation estate gifts will be invested in the Endowment to grow in perpetuity. The Endowment provides Lowcountry Food Bank Foundation supporters “a gift that keeps on giving” and provides a vehicle for a bequest to the endowment in their will as a legacy.
Donors may include the Lowcountry Food Bank Foundation in their will or trust, make a tax-wise gift with a beneficiary designation, or generate annual income through a charitable gift.
The Endowment has been established with an investment corpus of more than $1 million. Donors who include the Foundation in their estate plans are recognized as members of the Lowcountry Food Bank Free Plate Legacy Society, which provides public acknowledgment of their donation.
“The Lowcountry Food Bank Foundation is an innovative way to further increase our capacity to serve our food-insecure neighbors,” said Nick Osborne, Lowcountry Food Bank President & CEO. “The Foundation supports our mission to lead the fight against hunger now, and empowers our work for years to come – ensuring our neighbors have access to healthy food when they need it most. Although we would rather foresee a future without hunger, we must secure our ability to feed our food-insecure neighbors – regardless of what the future may hold.”
For more information, please contact Brenda Shaw, Lowcountry Food Bank Chief Development Officer at bshaw@lcfbank.org or 843-747-8146, ext. 104.
