AFAC Announces Promotions of Four Staff Members
The Arlington Food Assistance Center (AFAC) is pleased to announce the promotion of four of its employees, effective July 1, 2021.
Coming off a year when the demand for food reached record highs in the community, AFAC was able to provide much needed groceries to all Arlington residents who came through its doors. “The success of our services to our community was in large part due to the deep dedication of our hard working staff. It is with great pleasure that I announce the following promotions,” says Charles Meng, AFAC Chief Executive Officer.
Lily Duran has been promoted to Director of Client Services. In this role, Duran will lead the newly created department and will continue to oversee client management at all AFAC food distribution sites, work with partner agencies to enroll families in need of food, and grow the home delivery grocery program that started last spring. Duran currently serves on Arlington County’s Food Security Task Force and is a co-chair of the Arlington County Healthy Community Action Team’s Food Insecurity Subcommittee. She started her career with AFAC in 2012 as an Operations Assistant and held the prior roles of Client Services Manager and Assistant Director of Client Services.
Mathilda Dack has been promoted to Associate Director of Administration. She oversees the food donations and coordinates food drives for the organization. Last year, over 1.6 million pounds of food was donated to AFAC from local grocery stores and food drives held in the community. Dack joined AFAC in 2017 as an Administrative Assistant and was most recently the Assistant Director of Administration.
Jeremiah Huston has been promoted to Associate Director of Communications. His responsibilities include creating content for all of AFAC’s digital platforms, managing grants, and supporting fundraising operations. Huston began at AFAC in 2014 as a Volunteer Coordinator, then moved to the Development Department to manage communications, and was most recently the Assistant Director of Communications.
Ray Bynum has been promoted to Assistant Director of Operations. He is responsible for the day-to-day operations in the warehouse, which includes overseeing warehouse staff and volunteers, offsite deliveries, and the inventory of food. Bynum started at AFAC in 2014 as a Warehouse Assistant, and held previous roles as Lead Warehouse Assistant and Warehouse Manager.
The restructuring of staff will play a key role in strengthening AFAC’s growth. In September, AFAC will reopen food distributions on Thursday evenings at the main headquarters on Nelson St. In the fall, renovations on the warehouse adjacent to AFAC’s main facility will be complete, which will allow AFAC to increase its food storage capacity on site. Once that is done, AFAC will continue to explore the expansion of its service area to decrease food insecurity beyond Arlington’s borders.
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About AFAC: The Arlington Food Assistance Center (AFAC) is an independent, community-based non-profit food pantry that provides dignified access to nutritious supplemental groceries to our neighbors in need. Last year, 5,583 families throughout Arlington County to access fresh and healthy supplemental groceries, freeing up tightly stretched funds for child and health care, rent, and other financial demands. For more information, visit www.afac.org.