At the Central Texas Food Bank, we are proud to work with over 230 Partner Agencies throughout the Central Texas region. These organizations are vital to our ability to serve the community and achieve our mission of ending hunger. These agencies provide food access programs such as food pantries, soup kitchens, after-school feeding programs and more, bolstering the quality of life for Central Texans facing hunger. Partner Agencies can conveniently order products via an online system, picking them up at the Food Bank or a regional delivery spot. Benefits of being part of our network include purchasing items below retail price, zero cost on select items such as fresh produce, training courses to enhance service capacity, social services support for client solutions, enhanced community credibility, and networking opportunities with other Partner Agencies.
Sophia Copeland, who works closely with our network, supports our Partner Agencies through the creation, maintenance and expansion of their food access programs. Sophia serves as a Network Standards + Capacity Coordinator. She brings a wealth of knowledge to her role in relationship management, one of the many reasons she is the Food Bank's Team Member of the Month.
Sophia grew up in San Antonio and comes from a mission-oriented family who cares deeply for civil rights, policy work and public service. Inspired by her love of animals and nature, she pursued education in Natural Resource Management, specifically concentrating on conservation science. Her passion for the policy side of this work led her to obtain a master's in public administration. She went on to work as a legislative staffer at the capitol, where she enjoyed taking scientific language about conservation and environmental equity and translating it into easy-to-understand concepts for the public.
Sophia found her calling at the Central Texas Food Bank, merging her values and expertise to serve as a liaison between the Food Bank and Partner Agencies. Her ability to demystify legal language is one of the reasons she's an adept at working with our Partner Agencies. To administer a food access program, Partner Agencies must understand how to comply with state and federal laws. Sophia works diligently to educate the partners she works with on how to stay in compliance by translating policy into plain language. She visits partners throughout our service area each month to ensure every agency receives the support it needs.
This year, Sophia was the project lead for our annual Partner Agency Conference, which the Food Bank had yet to host since the pandemic. The conference served as a time to educate partners on topics such as the "client choice" model, capacity building and the state of the food industry. Sophia's attention to detail and organization was evident when our partners connected over our shared mission of tackling food insecurity in Central Texas.
Sophia's typical day at work includes communicating with Partner Agencies on a wide range of questions about food orders, reporting, client interactions, technology troubleshooting and even growing their operations. She cherishes seeing partners grow their food access program’s capacity from a closet pantry operation to extensive storage facilities with delivery trucks. "I love their passion for what they do. A lot of them are 'seasoned citizens,' so they come with a wealth of knowledge from their life experiences. They want to give back to the church pantry or community center and run an organization that provides great customer service to their community," Sophia shares, "I want to help them help others."
Sophia is courteous, professional, patient and kind when working with our Partner Agencies in any scope. We are so grateful for her dedication to working with our network to end hunger in Central Texas.
