Our Board
Comments from a few of our Board members
Jay McSharry— Co-Chairperson
I have spent much of my adult life working in restaurants, learning the business from the ground up. When I opened my first restaurant I wanted to ensure that giving back to the community was a big part of the fabric of my business plan. Share Our Strength, with its mission of ending childhood hunger, in large part by tapping into the resources of the food service industry, was a natural fit for me. As I have become more involved in this organization, and seen the need right here in our own community, I have come to know the importance of this work on a very personal level. I joined this group in order to give of myself, but have discovered that I have gotten so much more out of the experience than I could ever give.
Megan Shapiro-Ross— Co-Chairperson
I found myself searching for an organization where my heart felt completely involved. Share Our Strength encompassed my heart and my desire to support the vast amount of need in our own community. As a former teacher in a lower income community in New Hampshire, I witnessed hunger in ways that I did not know existed. During my first week of teaching, I saw something that changed my mindset about our society. I vividly recall witnessing a hungry little six year old boy lick his fingers to pick up crumbs that remained on a table from a classmate’s snack… a hunger that I had never before had to confront personally. It is so easy not to be aware, but I no longer had that luxury. I now needed to know more and I needed to help. I have learned so much from my involvement in Share Our Strength Seacoast, and that has allowed me to share my strengths in working towards breaking the cycle of hunger.
Michael Landgarten— Founder
I liked that Share Our Strength was more about raising awareness than raising money - both of course. Billy Shore— national founder of Share Our Strength— would say that we are trying to enlarge the constituency of people in this country who see hunger and poverty as core and urgent issues for our society. That by building this constituency the issue would be put back on the table as politically important and then the government would really do something to fix the problem. Of course they really could if we wanted them to - hunger and poverty was nearly eradicated in the U.S. in the early 1970’s. During the Johnson years aid programs were fully funded in what was called the war on poverty. We saw it as our country’s duty… It raises awareness having folks donate time and skill and having thousands of guests at events. That builds constituencies.
Denise Wheeler— Board Member
In an imperfect world where people like myself can become so overwhelmed and alienated that we start to feel we can not make a difference, Share Our Strength shows us that we can. I am grateful to be among the privileged few on the planet in a position to give, not just receive. By creating the opportunity to share our time and talents, Share Our Strength has given us the tools to contribute to the needy in our community and throughout the world.
Jeanette Bonham— Board Member
I tell people that since I am Italian, it is about the food, and so I thought this organization would be a perfect fit for me. I have been working with Share Our Strength Seacoast from the second year of its inception in this area. In working directly with the food pantries over the years and hearing their stories, it allows me to see that Share Our Strength makes a big difference in the lives of those less fortunate. When you give, you get so much in return and I think that Share Our Strength proves this, year in and year out.
Peter Egelston— Board Member
As a long-time restaurant owner, I’ve had the pleasure to be surrounded daily by people enjoying plenty of good food, and I feel fortunate to live in a time and place where that is possible. Yet, I’m also aware that there are people in our community who struggle simply to put food on their tables. The fact that hunger persists in the midst of such great abundance is a terrible problem. But I believe that this problem can be solved, and we have the solution right at our fingertips. It is a matter of sharing our resources, sharing our strength.
Lori Decato-Metz— Board Member
In 1994 my friend Michael Landgarten approached me and asked if I would be willing to help out with a new anti-hunger group he was organizing called Share Our Strength Seacoast. In those early years, I found that working on this board presented an opportunity for me to use my skills and make a difference. As I learned more through the years, and have attended three National Share Our Strength Conferences of Leaders, and helped organize many events, I have confirmed that very reason. It is as simple as sharing your strength.
Scott McKee— Board Member
Although Share Our Strength Seacoast is best known for the gala Taste of the Nation Portsmouth fund-raiser and the Share Your Love gourmet sit down dinner that we organize every year, our anti-hunger advocacy extends well beyond that, to programs like Operation Frontline— Share Our Strength’s nutrition education component. In addition, we partner with the New Hampshire Center for a Food Secure Future, a University of New Hampshire-based collaboration among diverse stakeholders in the food system. We are also committed to ensuring that all of our fund-raising events are green, sustainable, and support locally grown and raised foods. This broad based strategy combined with the funds we provide to the most effective anti-hunger organizations in the region, is making an impact on the lives of hungry children on the Seacoast and beyond. Without the generous support of the residents of this community, who year-after-year keep coming back and sharing their strength by attending our fund-raising events, none of it would be possible. We feel fortunate and grateful to live in such a place.
