After nearly three decades of working to fight hunger nationwide – 17 years of which have been in Central Florida – Dave Krepcho, president and CEO of Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida, announced that he will be retiring at the end of the year.
Throughout his career, Krepcho has advocated for innovative solutions to shorten the line on hunger. In 1992, he was named executive director of the Daily Bread Food Bank in Miami. From there he joined Feeding America in Chicago, developing national programs to procure more food for the organization’s 205 member food banks across the U.S.
Krepcho took the helm at Second Harvest in Central Florida in 2004. Under his leadership, the food bank has distributed more than half a billion meals and formed partnerships with more than 550 community feeding partners, while also cultivating relationships with thousands of individual and corporate supporters like Disney, Universal, Publix, Darden and Lockheed Martin. During Krepcho’s tenure, Second Harvest’s cost to distribute one pound of food fell by 60%.
Krepcho was the driving force behind Second Harvest’s $16.5 million “Building Solutions to Hunger” capital campaign in 2011. This ambitious initiative enabled the food bank to expand operations to better serve its six-county region by increasing the amount of fresh produce, meat and dairy that could be stored prior to distribution.
“It’s never easy to say goodbye to a leader like Dave,” said Jeff Lutes, chairman of Second Harvest’s board of directors. “During his time here, he has made incredible strides by ‘feeding hope’ to those who have reached out for help. ‘Thank you’ is simply not enough for his impassioned service. He will be deeply missed – not only by Second Harvest, but by the Central Florida community, as well.”
Krepcho serves on several committees, including the UCF School of Public Administration Advisory Board for Nonprofit Management; the Florida Association of Food Banks; Feeding America’s national Innovation Advisory Group; the Social Enterprise Fund; and Every Kid Outreach. He is also a founding member of Good Food Central Florida, a local food policy council. In 2010, Krepcho was named Central Floridian of the Year by the Orlando Sentinel.
A national search firm will be hired this month to identify candidates to replace Krepcho.
1 in 6 Central Floridians is experiencing hunger.
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