Hundreds of Southern Colorado donors are making a big difference about pressing food insecurity issues. Annual Recipe for Hope fundraising luncheons are in three Southern Colorado locations over three months.

Care and Share Food Bank for Southern Colorado distributes food to 29 counties with its longtime rallying cry focus: “We believe no one should go hungry.” More than 22 million pounds of food are distributed.

March was the beginning for the 2026 fundraisers in home-base Colorado Springs with 900 people at a sponsor-provided luncheon in Broadmoor Hall. A record $427,500 was donated that day, which equates to more than 1 million meals.

Still to come are luncheons in Pueblo in April and Alamosa in May.

Nate Springer, president and CEO of the food bank, thanked the large crowd at The Broadmoor, laughing a bit as he admitted he would be inundating them with so many incredible numbers such as 284,562 people receiving food from the full network of partners and programs, working with 278 partner agencies, volunteers giving 44,000 hours of service, several hundred pantries and mobile grocery stores, working with 57 farmers and co-ops and the importance of 97 cents of every dollar donated going straight into the program.

Locally there were 12,598 Send Hunger Packing weekend-food family distributions for students to take home. Pantry programs run by trained students are in 50 schools. There are 100 distributions to active-duty military and, said Springer, former garrison commander of Fort Carson, “I believe it’s our responsibility.”

Those were just a tiny part of the annual numbers and his full PowerPoint presentation will be on their careandshare.org site at the end of the luncheons.

Featured speakers were a mother of five who is a domestic violence and cancer survivor and has her own business. She hit a time when she had no choice but to go to a food pantry for her family and said, “No one grows up knowing they would need help. Needing help does not mean that you failed. Asking for help does not diminish you.”

An elementary school social worker shared that her small students find it difficult to admit they are hungry, and hungry students cannot focus. She had tears describing students hesitantly going to the school food pantry the first time. “They were so excited” and, she said, they asked over and over if it was really for free. They were able to shop.”

Care and Share Board Chair Bill Nelson could only say softly, “Sister would be pleased.” That would be dearly loved late Sister Dominique Pisciotta, who in 1972 found ways to collect food for hungry neighbors in her vehicle and in basements, sharing food baskets. With a tiny group of volunteers, she incorporated in 1974. An Emergency Services Network was created in 1983 and her group merged with Pikes Peak Food Bank. The sister’s work expanded over the years into the organization Springer was describing, serving many thousands of people.

Members of Sister Dominique’s family were at the luncheon, hearing what she had created.

Her vision was carried out by Lynne Telford, who served for 11 years as CEO of what grew into Care and Share Food Bank for Southern Colorado. She retired in 2022. Along with years of years of growth and needed expansion, she was credited with, among other things, creating a disaster response system that was at the ready for emergency action during COVID, the Waldo Canyon and Black Forest fires and government shutdowns. There also is an endowment fund for the future.

Care and Share Food Bank of Southern Colorado is today part of the Feeding America Network of more than 200 food banks and pantries, Springer explained. Altogether, it serves 5 billion meals nationwide. With Food Bank of the Rockies in the north and Care and Share in the south, Colorado is covered.