AURORA, Colo. — One in 10 Coloradans are struggling with food insecurity, and as summer approaches, that number is expected to climb. It is a reality Kristina Thomas knows well.
Thomas, the Director of Communications and Public Relations at Community Food Share, recently joined fellow food banking professionals at the Food Bank of the Rockies in Aurora to pack boxes of oranges as part of a statewide Feeding Colorado gathering, a moment that brought her career full circle.
“It’s been interesting to be able to see the ebbs and the flows and really just be a part of that,” Thomas said.
Community Food Share is the Feeding America-affiliated food bank serving Boulder and Broomfield counties. It is one of five regional food banks operating under Feeding Colorado, a statewide network that partners with local pantries, soup kitchens and mobile distribution sites to provide emergency groceries and meals to Coloradans facing hunger. The other four member banks are Food Bank of the Rockies, Care and Share Food Bank for Southern Colorado, Food Bank for Larimer County and Weld Food Bank.
Thomas began her hunger relief career at the Food Bank of the Rockies in 2003, spending nearly 18 years there before joining Community Food Share in late 2020. In nearly 25 years, she has witnessed the landscape of food insecurity, and the public’s response to it, shift dramatically…