Austin Way Magazine - GreenGale Publishing - There is a place beyond the crowds, beyond the ropes, where dreams are realized and success is celebrated. You are invited.
Issue link: http://digital.greengale.com/i/461140
photography by jessica pages Joanna Linden's firsthand experience with poverty is one of the reasons she is so passionate about her goal of ending hunger in Central Texas. Hunger: It's Personal local philanthropist Joanna Linden leads the charge to create a new capital area food bank facility with a campaign to raise $10 million in 10 months. as told to kathy blackwell "When I joined the Capital Area Food Bank of Texas as chief development officer almost five years ago, I felt a responsibility to help those who were just like I was in my early 20s. I've heard it's easier to win the lottery than to escape poverty, and I feel like I have won the lottery in terms of earning a living and being able to give back. I have devoted my professional life to Austin's non- profits: first at Austin Opera and then at the Make-A-Wish Foundation. My primary initiative is now to expand the Food Bank with a new facility that will help feed Central Texans who are at risk of hunger—a percentage of the community grow- ing at nearly double the rate of our population. In September, the Food Bank launched its 10x10 Campaign to raise the remaining $10 million of its goal to raise $20 million in 10 months. "The Food Bank is like a safety net, providing the emergency-food assistance that I got to experi- ence firsthand. After getting married at a young age, my husband and I didn't have much. I began my adulthood—and it sounds extreme—in pov- erty. Just about everything we had was handed down or given to us, and we struggled to put gas in the car and food on the table. It was during this time that I had my first daughter, Abigail. "Abigail was born with spina bifida, a birth defect that has left her paralyzed and wheelchair- bound. Her first five years were full of doctor appointments, hospital stays, and surgeries; in order to take care of her, I dropped out of college and couldn't work. "I was on food stamps for a long time and would camp out by the mailbox to wait for them to arrive so I could go to the grocery store and put food in our basket. During my 20s, I worked diligently to continued on page 56 54 AUSTINWAY.com PEOPLE Spirit of Generosity