As economic uncertainty grips America, charities such as Be Concerned become increasingly vital to local communities. Be Concerned is a Northern Kentucky-based food pantry. Their charity has helped thousands of residents get access to food.
In February, the Covington Rotary Club partnered with Be Concerned to set up collection bins in popular local businesses year round. The bins are set up in businesses with a high amount of foot traffic. As of now, Braxton Brewery, Crafts & Vines and Lil’s Bagels all have donation bins set up. In March, the collaboration resulted in approximately 50 pounds of food collected.
“We decided to do a food drive. It’s different than other organizations food drives. Maybe they do it once a year around the holidays. We have it be a year long thing in combination with whichever retail establishments that have walk-in traffic that might be interested in working with us as a partner, for those in need in our community” David Fine, Owner of David Fine Associates, said. “We decided the food drive bins should have our name on it along with the establishment’s name on it. It would be a good partnership. We’d collect the food, pick it up and drop it off at Be Concerned.”
Be Concerned has a tremendous impact on the community. It’s the largest free food program in Northern Kentucky. In 2020, Be Concerned served 6,746 people in 2,918 households. Their staff is primarily made up of volunteers, which allows them to operate at a third of the cost. Be Concerned operates by the motto of Donna Kinney, “It’s just as important what we give our shoppers, is how we give it to them: with a smile, a hug, and an encouraging word.”
“We have a large local impact on how we’re able to streamline services with other agencies to most effectively serve our customers, without sending low income people all over the Northern Kentucky region, trying to find the service they need. If it’s something that we don’t provide, we work with one of our partners who does so they can be best served,” Andy Brunsman, Executive Director of Be Concerned, said.
Fine said a future plan for the bins could be rotating them around to different high-traffic businesses in the area. Another idea is to adopt more bins and place them in more businesses on a permanent basis.
Be Concerned is the perfect charity for people such as Fine who want to be philanthropically involved in their community. As a business owner, Fine understands the importance of community outreach and involvement.
“For me personally, I’m always up to help the community and work with the Covington Rotary. It’s such a good cause and a good group of people,” Fine said. “I feel like it’s something I can contribute to the group, and contribute to the community to do my part. I work in a business-to-business kind of thing. My business is a wholesale business to the interior design trade .I don’t have a lot of reason, other than being totally philanthropic. This is my way to be involved in the community besides work.”
