PITTSBORO — A statewide news organization is co-hosting a forum on hunger in Pittsboro later this month.
The Carolina Public Press, a nonprofit investigative reporting outlet based in Asheville, is partnering with multiple agencies, including CORA Food Pantry, for the Chatham County Newsmakers Forum on Hunger on October 25 at the Chatham Community Library in Pittsboro. Admission to the event is free.
The forum, which begins at 12:30 p.m., will feature panelists working on the issue of community hunger:
• Tamara Cox Baker, project and communications director, No Kid Hungry
• Melissa Beard, executive director, CORA Food Panntry
• Pushti Patel, director of communications, Interfaith Food Shuttle
• Dennis Streets, executive director, Chatham Council on Aging
The main session will include discussion about solutions already being used to combat hunger in the community, along with current challenges and how they could be addressed. The forum will also explore what the staff of the Carolina Public Press uncovered in “Faces of Hunger,” a year-long investigative series.
The forum will be followed by breakout sessions. The first, on child hunger, will run from 2:30-3:30 p.m. and be led by Tradell Atkins, director of child hunger programs for the Interfaith Food Shuttle, and Jessica Soldavini, graduate research assistant with No Kid Hungry NC. The second session, covering senior hunger, will be led by Streets and run from 4-5 p.m.
The News + Record is working with the Carolina Public Press to produce the event as part of the newspaper’s commitment to community conversations. The CN+R held two “One Chatham” forums this year in partnership with Our Chatham, a program of the UNC Hussman School of Media and Journalism’s Reese News Lab. Other partners in the event include the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina and MomsRising.
For more information, visit the event’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/events/2423898170998642.