Food Bank director to retire at end of year
UWCHLAN » In January 1968 a tragedy hit the community of Parkesburg.
An early-morning fire caused by a malfunctioning space heater set a row of homes ablaze, and in the ensuing inferno took the lives of seven children, all between the ages of 1 and 8, all from the same family.
Larry Welsch, then a student at Octorara High School, decided he would do something to help the family recover. With permission from the school principal, Welsch organized and ran a “Winter Carnival” at the
high school, donating the money the students raised to parents Ralph and Mary Hoover and their surviving daughter.
“That got me interested in doing more of that,” Welsch said in an interview on Friday.
Later, when he was a senior, Welsch sought out the assistant principal at the school, Robert Denlinger, for advice on what he should do with his future. He wasn’t terribly interested in going to college, he admitted.
Denlinger soothed his anxiety, Welsch remembered all these years later. “You don’t have to go to college,” the older man said, “to do important work.” And as a point of fact, Welsch never did go to college, but he did eventually do important work.
Last week, the Chester County Food Bank announced that Welsch, the organization’s founding executive director, will retire at the end of this year after leading it for more than a decade.
“I feel like I have given the organization everything I have,” Welsh, now 64 but still living in the community where he was born, in
Highland. “I think it could use a fresh look.”
According to a press release issued by the Food Bank, Welsch was hired as its first employee in October 2009 when Chester County government needed a lead hunger relief organization to take over state and federal food programs.
He began operations in November 2009 in a small two-car garage in Parkesburg and by September 2010 moved operations to a 10,000-square-foot building in Guthriesville, East Brandywine.
Welsch’s achievements include increasing the Food Bank’s programs to include nutrition education; strengthening its agriculture program; and relocating the operations in 2013 to its current 36,000 square foot facility in Uwchlan to further expand programs including the addition in 2018 of a culinary training program, FRESHstart Kitchen.
Along the way, Welsch developed deep relationships with the Food Bank’s network of partner agencies, including food cupboards, shelters and schools; county government; regional and state food banks; and other community leaders, farmers, businesses and organizations.
“I have been at the Chester County Food Bank for its eleven years of existence. It has been the greatest opportunity of my career. I have had the privilege of working with an incredible group of people, who every day give all they can to help make the lives of our neighbors better. I am so grateful to our heroic staff and to our many supporters for what we have been able to do for those in need,” Welsch said in the release.
“Before the COVID-19 crisis, I had begun to think that it may be time for me to retire. Clearly, I couldn’t have done it then, but now that we have created systems to cope with the crisis, I feel that the end of 2020 is the right time for me to step aside. The board has been supportive of my decision and we are laying the groundwork together to assure that there will be a smooth transition.
“I leave behind an organization whose programs are meeting the needs of the community and have been recognized for their effectiveness by other nonprofits,” he said. “The foundation of the Food Bank is strong and going through these last few months has made it even stronger.”
Welsch will remain at the Food Bank through the end of the year and will help with the changeover to a new executive director.
“Larry’s passion, coupled with tireless energy, has been inspiring,” said Bob McNeil, founding chairman of the Food Bank and member of the executive search committee. “From its modest beginnings, this Food Bank has grown to be one of the strongest organizations in Chester County and Larry’s leadership has put CCFB on the map in the national food bank community.
“I am honored to have worked alongside Larry and be a part of the Food Bank’s mission,” McNeil said in the release. “I do not take lightly the task to hire the next executive director.”
“It has been an honor to serve as chair of the board with Larry as our leader for the past several years,” added Lauren Harrell, current board chairwoman.
“His dedication and passion have guided the organization through a period of incredible growth,” she said.”In light of COVID-19, the Food Bank is needed now more than ever, and the organization’s incredible crisis response would not have been possible without Larry and his leadership.
“While this is a time to celebrate Larry and his incredible accomplishments, as a board we must also look forward,” she said. “To that end, we are dedicated to finding our next executive director who can continue to serve our county’s food insecure and lead us into the future.”
In the interview, Welsch said that his early foray into charity work evinced by his efforts to help the Hoover family did not become a driving force in his life until he had been working for several years and raising a family of two daughters with his wife of 41 years, Beth Welsch.
After high school, he started working in the food distribution industry for W.C. Adam Poultry in Coatesville. Following a detour to the U.S. Post Office in the city, he started his non-profit work with Chester County CARES, a fledgling food cupboard distribution center in West Chester. When that organization faced bankruptcy, McNeil decided to jump into the fray and set up the Food Bank. His first hire was Welsch.
Because of their mutual vision, the Food Bank was founded on the philosophy of not only distributing food to meet an immediate need, but also educating the public on the benefits of healthy eating, a reviewer wrote. Several programs were created with this philosophy in mind, including community raised-bed gardens, senior food boxes, summer food boxes and weekend backpacks for school-age children, a mobile market, and bilingual cooking classes based at several area health clinics.
“It’s a job, yes,” Welsch said of his time with the Food Bank. “But it has been more of a mission from Day One. It has been quite an experience.”
Welsch said his plan in retirement is to “take some time off, sort things out, and hope to get back into working with a nonprofit who needs a slightly worn executive director. Just not in that role.”
The Food Bank has launched an executive search for Welsch’s replacement. Qualified applicants can send their resume to CCFBsearch@ gmail.com.
To contact staff writer Michael P. Rellahan call 610-696-1544.