Kathleen DiChiara’s journey to becoming a leader in the food security space began with a profound realization. In the early 1970s, she learned about a devastating famine in Bangladesh.
“My sister was a nun, a medical mission sister, and the sisters from her order were there. One of them had a nervous breakdown and had to go home from seeing the carts going by filled with children’s bodies who had starved to death,” Kathleen recalled. Moved by this tragedy, she and her husband Tony decided to forgo exchanging Christmas gifts that year, instead donating to relief efforts and encouraging others to do the same.
Her newfound commitment to addressing hunger took root closer to home after she took a class at Seton Hall University on global action and human relations. The only suburban housewife in a room full of activists, she had a revelation: “Yes, I am concerned about world hunger, and where my feet are planted is part of the world. Now, let me see who in my area is going hungry.” This set her on a path that would eventually change countless lives.
In 1974, Kathleen took the first step by asking members of her church to donate food every Sunday, not just during the holidays. She gave out her home phone number to everyone in Summit, where she lived, and asked them to refer anyone who needed food to her.
“What I experienced was that no one without food called me. Instead, neighbors and friends called and said, ‘I’m worried about so-and-so,’” she shared. One of her first deliveries was to a man who had recently lost his job. Embarrassed by his situation, he initially reacted with anger, but weeks later, he called Kathleen to apologize: “I’ve got a job now, and I want to help. Where do I drop off some food donations?”
Her efforts expanded quickly. Working with churches in Newark, she organized an Essex County hunger relief network. Then, a pivotal moment came when she approached Bishop Joseph Francis of the Archdiocese of Newark with a bold request: “I had organized pantries for Essex County, but if they would give me the space, I would volunteer to organize an emergency food program i n all four of the counties the archdiocese served,” she recounted. The bishop agreed, providing her with the Community FoodBank of New Jersey’s first official office space at Essex Catholic High School.
As CFBNJ grew, Kathleen learned about the emerging concept of food banking. She connected with organizations in Philadelphia and Arizona, where large-scale food distribution was beginning to take shape. “I was getting calls offering trailer-loads of food, and even though I didn’t have a warehouse, I always said yes anyway,” she said. “I was calling as many churches and agencies to come and pick up food as possible, and I was giving it out in parking lots.”
That’s when Kathleen realized that she needed to start looking for a warehouse. Soon, she secured space in the Mt. Carmel Guild Building in Newark and, in 1980, CFBNJ joined Feeding America (then called Second Harvest), which introduced her to fellow food bank leaders across the country whom she could go to for information and advice.
Over the years, she witnessed the evolving face of hunger. “It’s shocking that more people seem to be struggling now than when I began in 1975,” Kathleen said. “There’s greater awareness of food insecurity now. There’s also more government involvement, but still not enough. When you hear about children being cut off school lunches and people on SNAP no longer receiving their benefits, you see a lack of caring.”
Through her relentless advocacy, Kathleen improved the lives of millions of New Jerseyans, earning her recognition from three U.S. Presidents, three Governors of New Jersey, and even Pope John Paul II. Among her many prestigious honors, she was also inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame in 2013 and received eight honorary doctorates from colleges and universities in New York and New Jersey.
Reflecting on her journey, Kathleen often compared her work to an unusual childhood aspiration: “People used to ask my brother, my sister, and me, ‘What do you want to be when you grow up?’ My sister always said she wanted to be a nurse. My brother wanted to be a doctor. I wanted to be a lion tamer, and I have been one. It just wasn’t with the big cats — it was tackling big challenges.”
Her impact was not just in the millions of pounds of food distributed, but in the movement she created. Kathleen never wavered in her belief that change is possible. “No matter how far we go, there’s always more work to do,” she said. “The challenge is getting others involved and raising the funds to continue this important mission. But food, help, and hope — those things will always be at the heart of what we do at CFBNJ.”
Under Kathleen’s exemplary leadership as the FoodBank’s Executive Director until 2015, she propelled the organization towards its mission of ensuring that everyone in New Jersey has enough to eat – distributing hundreds of millions of pounds of food and building programs to address the root causes of food insecurity, including job training, diaper distribution, SNAP application assistance, and more. Today, CFBNJ is the state’s largest anti-hunger, anti-poverty organization. Kathleen DiChiara passed away in October 2024 surrounded by her family. She is greatly missed, but her legacy of service lives on.