On April 26, 
2017 the Community Foundation partnered with 16 community organizations to present the first ever DeSoto County Hunger Summit. The purpose of the event was to bring together those who are working to feed residents of DeSoto County in order to educate, engage, and connect. The Summit featured Keynote presentations by Dr. DD Sidhu, a renowned pediatrician and expert on the effects of hunger on children, and Mike Dixon, Executive Director of Extra Table in Hattiesburg. Attendees of the Summit also participated in breakout sessions on topics like feeding the working poor, making food donations work for you, and community gardens. The 2017 DeSoto County Hunger Summit was sponsored by Brown Missionary Baptist Church, DeSoto Children’s Clinic, MidSouth Food Bank, Trustmark, Baptist Desoto, DeSoto County Social Services Coalition, Methodist Olive Branch, Mid-South Churches Cooperative Conference, Ole Miss-Desoto, and Northwest MS Community College. As a result of this Summit and the generous sponsors who supported the event, CFNM will be awarding mini-grants to attendees of the Summit who submit an application for a project that will directly impact hunger in DeSoto County.
To learn more about hunger in DeSoto County, visit www.hungernomics.org.