Alexis Eaton is the food bank’s Programs Coordinator. She was born and raised in Chattanooga and studied Government and Sociology at Wofford College in Spartanburg, South Carolina. She loves history and finds the workings of governments fascinating, but her desires changed after graduating. Alexis says her career in food banking really began when she established a food pantry at her college, and the process ignited a desire to be on the front lines fighting hunger.

A great deal of her work revolves around child nutrition programs. She manages all in-school pantries and school mobile pantries across our 20-county service area. She supervises internal Sack Pack and Summer Bags programs, too, through which we distribute food to students to last across their weekends and summer breaks.

Alexis says the process of establishing an in-school pantry is often community-led. “Someone will reach out to us and say, ‘Hey, we see there’s a need at this school, you may want to look into it,’ or even the schools themselves will call us and say, ‘Hey, we’re having a little bit of a hard time—would you be able to support us?’” Alexis then conducts research to understand what resources are already available in the school's area and if the pantry is a viable option. She also manages the distribution of food to senior apartment complexes. There are nearly a dozen residences within the food bank’s service area that receive food on a quarterly basis.

Alexis been with the food bank for four years, and she notes one of her favorite things about the job is getting to know our guests on a personal level. “They've become like family to me,” she says.

“Every time I go to a distribution, I see a familiar face, and I get to see how they’re doing. I get to just love on them, and they do the same for me.”

Alexis describes herself as a homebody and a caregiver, and she loves time spent with her family.