This article first appeared in our Fall 2024 Newsletter.
We empower more than 500 food pantries and meal programs to increase our neighbors’ access to nutritious food. This support nourishes communities in more ways than one. When a person is more food secure, they often gain the stability needed to invest their talents, skills, and passions into building a better life for themselves and their community.
That is the truth for our neighbor Pam Caudill, who is no stranger to adversity, nor the strength needed to endure and overcome. When we met, she recounted moments that changed her life—the sacrifices made to ensure she had treatment for cancer in 2009, the unexpected passing of her devoted husband and first responder, Phillip, in 2022, and their home—the one the worked so hard to buy—being severely damaged by the floods that devastated Floyd County just a few months later. “Food insecurity is not because of laziness or [because] you don’t want to work, y’know. Things happen in your life that cause you to have to choose things,” she shared.
One of the Food Bank’s partners, St. Vincent Mission, supported Pam during these difficulties and continues to serve as a safety net. Their support helps maintain a steadiness that allows her to fully express her culinary gifts and generous nature to help others.
Pam’s neighbor has no family or transportation, and she feels shame when asking for help. Knowing this, Pam makes a special effort to make sure she doesn’t go hungry. Whether it’s a homemade meal, food from her garden, a ride, or delivering food from the pantry, she’s there to help. “I’m grateful for my community [and the] kindness that’s been showed to me throughout the years, and that I’ve been able to pass that along, too.”
With reliable access to food, Pam can also look forward to comforts that come with the holidays. This Thanksgiving, she plans to continue traditions from the generations that came before her. Like her grandparents and parents from Hazard, she will gather with a large family whom she cherishes. She will joyfully prepare a traditional meal while leaning on the memories of Thanksgivings with her husband who “made sure everything tasted just right," including the cinnamon rolls made with her grandchildren. And Pam will share the bounty of all she is grateful for—a home, a meal, a great love for people, and this wisdom she says will be passed down to her grandchildren: “It really doesn’t matter what’s on the table as long as you’re together, and love and faith are more important than anything else in your life.”
With that same generosity and gratitude, Pam has shared her Homemade Cinnamon Roll recipe with us, which we hope will bring a delicious warmth to your Thanksgiving table. Her grandson, Conner, assured us they are the absolute best.
Thank you for joining a movement of people, like the Caudill family, who are willing to share their bounty until no Kentuckian goes hungry.
