Food Podcast: Food Bank's Lisa Scales reflects on being named 'Pittsburgher of the Year'

It’s been three months since Lisa Scales, president and CEO of the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank, was notified that she had been selected as “Pittsburgher of the Year.”

“To be honest, I’m still trying to take it all in,” Scales said of the Pittsburgh Magazine award that was announced Jan. 21. “It’s an incredible honor, first and foremost, and it’s also very humbling when I look to see who’s been honored in past years.”

Scales pointed to those she works alongside but more importantly, the volunteers and donors who supported the food bank as the pandemic spread throughout the region.

“None of this is even possible without the support of our board and committee members, without our amazing staff that has worked tirelessly these past 10 or 11 months, and the community,” Scales said.

In March, the food bank quickly pivoted to emergency food assistance as families experienced job loss, schools closing and stay-at-home orders. Scales reflected on one of the first drive-up distributions the Food Bank held – and how it did not go as planned.

“There is nothing harder as a food banker than telling someone, ‘We don’t have food for you today.’ That was true in the middle of March at one of our first drive-up distributions where we had to turn away hundreds of people because we just did not have the food boxes available to them,” she said.

Since then, the food bank has nearly revolutionized the way it distributes food. With the logistics of drive-up distributions ironed out, the launch of Doorstep Delivery, food pantries moving to preboxed food and more, the organization operates in a different way than it did a year ago.

Scales said she is grateful for the honor of being named “Pittsburgher of the Year.” For her, bringing food insecurity and its underlying causes to the forefront of many people’s minds has been the most impactful.

“It was incredibly emotional for me because we’ve been working so hard here at the food bank just to keep up with the significant increase in need. So to be honored in that way and to elevate the issue of food insecurity to this prominent level, I felt so much gratitude for that,” she said.

Listen: Food Bank CEO Lisa Scales named Pittsburgher of the Year