A Chat with Eileen Bradshaw, Executive Director of the Community Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma

Our guest on ST today is Eileen Bradshaw, Executive Director of the Community Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma. The Food Bank, as it's commonly known, is the largest private hunger-relief organization in eastern Oklahoma; it's been around since 1981. As is noted at this special nonprofit's website: "Our vision is food security, with dignity, for all eastern Oklahomans.... With locations in Tulsa and McAlester, we provide food and other donated goods to 450 Partner Programs in 24 counties of eastern Oklahoma. These programs include emergency food pantries, soup kitchens, emergency shelters, after-school programs, and senior citizen centers. Together, we provide more than 346,000 meals each week to people struggling with hunger." Bradshaw tells us about how and why summer is actually the most difficult season for the Food Bank -- despite the fact that so much produce is, in those months, shooting up from the ground. She also speaks about the Food Bank's upcoming Empty Bowls event, which is an annual fundraiser scheduled for later this month (April 25th).