When Dominique K. Brandt signed on in mid-September as chief development officer at the Chattanooga Area Food Bank, she brought more than skills honed at nonprofits in Chattanooga and her native Miami.
She also brought an understanding of food insecurity, rooted in a memorable childhood visit to family in the Dominican Republic.
“There was a girl I’d play with when we’d visit,” Brandt says. “Her mom came over one night, and one of my aunts asked her what she’d (fed) her children that evening. She said she hadn’t given them anything because she didn’t have anything. My aunt gave her some food and told her to go home and make dinner for her kids.
“I was stunned. I wasn’t raised with money, but we always had a fridge full of food at home. I could not conceive of how someone could be food insecure, but I learned (then) what it was.”