news release

They’re bright, skilled, and eager to help. This summer, nine interns are honing their skills and expanding staffing resources at Treasure Coast Food Bank.

They are working in several different departments including finance, human resources, IT, and marketing. Most of the interns have roots on the Treasure Coast, and regardless of their area of expertise and focus, all will leave with a greater understanding of Treasure Coast Food Bank’s role in providing vital resources to the community.

“We’re very glad to have this great group of interns with us this year,” said Judith Cruz, President and CEO of Treasure Coast Food Bank. “Not only do they contribute to the departments to which they’re assigned, but they’ve already made a tremendous impact helping with our special events, volunteer activities, and with some special projects, like updates to our website.”

The interns are: Katherine Capezza, a junior at the University of Florida majoring in Family, Youth, and Community Sciences; Noah Chaban, a marketing major who attends Florida State University; Katherine Erickson, an English major from the University of Florida; Olivia North, who attends Florida State University and studies Public Health and Psychology; Lauren Pearson, an Indian River State College student studying Business Administration; Deonte Ramos who studies Public Policy and International Relations at New York University; Sophie Swanker, an Integrated Marketing Communications major from Albion College in Albion, Michigan;  Vivek Talati, who studies business analytics at Boston College; and Maxwell Hutchinson, who studies statistics at University of Florida.

Two of the students – Noah Chaban and Olivia North – came to Treasure Coast Food Bank through the No Kid Hungry Youth Ambassador Program, which gives college students the opportunity to witness hunger in their community firsthand and involve themselves in work to combat it. They’ll be working with Treasure Coast Food Bank’s Summer Meals Program that feeds youth throughout the summer.

Maxwell Hutchinson is spending his second summer with Treasure Coast Food Bank, working on a project to streamline data into an easily readable dashboard.

“I had an amazing experience with the food bank last year between the rewarding work and supportive coworkers, so I was all too happy to be here to work with Ron Wise with programming,” Hutchinson said. “I’ve been looking at all the different reports that agencies send in and the inventory reports to make a dashboard of the information for upper management.”

While the interns hone their skills, they also learn about Treasure Coast Food Bank’s role in fighting hunger.

“No matter where they end up in their careers, our interns will leave with a greater understanding of hunger and how Treasure Coast Food Bank works every day to combat it,” Cruz said.

ABOUT TREASURE COAST FOOD BANK

Treasure Coast Food Bank is the only food bank and largest hunger relief organization on Florida’s Treasure Coast, providing the community each year with millions of meals valued at more than $50 million through robust programs and in partnership with 400 charitable organizations in Indian River, St. Lucie, Martin, and Okeechobee counties. In addition to emergency food distribution, Treasure Coast Food Bank operates a full roster of direct service programs that not only solve the immediate problem of hunger, but help individuals and families gain long-term food security, better health outcomes, and self-sufficiency. Treasure Coast Food Bank is a member of Feeding America, the nationwide network of 200 food banks that leads the fight against hunger in the United States. For more information on Treasure Coast Food Bank, call 772.489.3034, log on to stophunger.org, visit our Facebook page at facebook.com/tcfoodbank, or follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/tcfoodbank.