Family Pantry’s New Exec Brings Global Experience To Cape

NORTH HARWICH – Jeffrey Cornish has fought hunger all over the world, looking into the faces of people for whom finding their next meal might mean life or death. He’s bringing that experience back to Cape Cod as the new executive director of the Family Pantry.

 Cornish started his career as a Peace Corps volunteer working in Russia, and went on to work for World Learning, Inc., where he focused on poverty reduction projects in Azerbaijan under a contract with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). In 2003, he traveled to Africa, first directing operations for the NGO Concern Worldwide in Sudan, and then for Action Against Hunger in Uganda. He led country-wide programs that provided life-saving nutrition, food security and clean water to thousands of refugees and internally displaced people.

 He returned to the Peace Corps several years later as a country director, leading development programs in the South Pacific nation of Tonga and the West African country of The Gambia. After a stint as CEO of the United Way of Douglas County, Kansas, Cornish again focused on refugee resettlement, working in Rwanda and sub-Saharan Africa. That work ceased when President Trump signed an executive order ending all USAID refugee support programming.

 Cornish’s family has been in Eastham for two generations; his late parents, Donovan and Roberta, were active in the community, helping run the Windmill Weekend event and the historical society’s Delaney House. They recently passed away, and Cornish found himself living here full-time, looking for a new opportunity. He was recruited for the top job at the Family Pantry of Cape Cod, and is glad to be the newest member of the team.

 “Coming back home and being able to live and work here and contribute like I am, this was the main driver of my return,” he said.

 Learning the many detailed tasks that come along with operating the Cape’s largest food pantry have been front and center in Cornish’s work since starting just before the beginning of the summer. But Cornish and other Pantry staffers are also working to strengthen regional partnerships with other nonprofits that fight hunger on the Cape, with an eye toward better collaboration and coordination. He’s also met with officials at the Greater Boston Food Bank, which provides much of the food that the Pantry distributes.

 “We’re going to see what they can provide, what they can’t, and then, like the quintessential nonprofit, we’re going to fill the gap,” Cornish said. Thanks to strong support from the community, the Family Pantry has financial reserves that the organization will begin putting to work, he said. “We’re going to make some infrastructure investments to the Pantry itself, and we will also look at how we can support our partners throughout Cape Cod in being able to reach more people with more food,” he said. That effort will be done strategically and deliberately, he said.

 Every day at work, Cornish said, he’s energized by the Family Pantry’s volunteers.

 “That’s the whole organization. As far as I’m concerned, the volunteers have been incredible. I’ve never seen a volunteer force so committed to their work with people, honestly,” Cornish said. He’s also seen the camaraderie of those volunteers, helping out when a teammate is sick or injured. “At [Second Glance Thrift Store], they’re even buying birthday cakes for the over-90-year-olds,” he said with a chuckle. “I’m telling you, that just doesn’t happen in other places in other organizations.” The volunteers’ dedication also reflects a kind of duty of care that they feel toward clients who depend on the Pantry, Cornish said.

 In addition to a 30-year–old living in Boston, Cornish and his wife have two 13-year-old kids. For once, they can take part in the same humanitarian work he’s engaged in.

 “I’ve never been able to have the family be a part of that work, to be able to have them participate in building the community while supporting the work that I’m involved with. And I think that’s very important for kids nowadays,” he said.

 While the work is challenging — the whiteboard in his office has three columns of to-do items — Cornish said he’s embracing it and loving it, “and really recognizing the contribution that the Pantry makes to society. It’s incredible work that we’re doing, and it needs to be supported.”

To contribute to The Chronicle's Summertime Helping Neighbors campaign, click here. You can also mail a tax-deductible contribution to The Family Pantry, 133 Queen Anne Rd., Harwich, MA 02645, or call 508-432-6519 to donate by credit card.