Staff Highlight: Donor Relations Manager Ciara

By Jade Fisher, Communications Specialist

Ciara joined Ballard Food Bank when we operated out of the previous building

When Ciara first started at the food bank in 2020, there was about a dozen full-time staff. Now, nearly six years into the job, Ciara has seen the team grow to almost 40 staff members.

Ciara is a donor relations manager on the Development and Communications team. She is often positioned behind the scenes making big moves connecting passionate donors and community members to programs that bring food and hope to neighbors.

In the back office Ciara is one of the team members calling, texting, and sending mail to our supporters. She says people often chat with her about why they give financial contributions to and care for our Hub for Hope. Though she feels that she's a very shy person, she enjoys meeting people and learning about them. You can also find her at Open Houses touring folks who want to learn more about our organization. She's hugely important in helping neighbors stay updated with the daily happenings at the food bank.

Ciara says, "We have so many programs here at the Food Bank … Most people care about food access, making sure families, children, homeless people get the food that they need to survive. But a lot of people also come to the food bank or donate to the food bank with special interests like in our community resource hub. For things like financial aid and making sure people have like client advocates … So I also work on figuring out personal passions and interests and just kind of helping people realize that through giving to the food bank."

A huge history buff and a Ballard resident for over six years, Ciara especially enjoys meeting donors who've called the city home for many years. There are countless stories she's heard about how our neighborhood and Northwest Seattle has changed through the years.

When asked if she's learned anything interesting since working at Ballard Food Bank she answers, "It has grown my curiosity mindset, which I think is necessary to just live semi- happily while things are burning." As part of that curiosity mindset, she's connected with people who have strong community ties in the area. She says, "I like the spider web and how small it makes the city feel."

"I've learned more about the history of the neighborhood. When I first started, I was also tasked with taking webinars on how to write land acknowledgement statements. So like getting to learn from Indigenous people on how to do that … Getting to know, like, the Indigenous history of this neighborhood specifically was honestly a highlight.”

[You can find more information about the Indigenous history of the neighborhood here]

As for why she chose to work at Ballard Food Bank, a hunger relief organization, she shared about her experience using food banks and facing food insecurity as a child. It wasn't just the hybrid job opportunity or the fact that she could work in her own neighborhood that drew her to Ballard Food Bank. She admired the vast selection offered in our free Community Market.

She says, "What really, really made working here attractive was our offerings for hygiene products and pet food. I've grown up with cats my entire life. And I grew up with a mom who was sharing what was going on in our lives with money and like food stamps not being able to pay for paper towels. That's a specific memory I have of like, 'why can't food stamps pay for toilet paper?' We need toilet paper. It makes me emotional even now but I think it's really awesome that we provide that because everybody deserves everything on the shelves, you know."

Her love for Ballard, the surrounding neighborhoods, and the gratitude for how that love is reflected back into Ballard Food Bank by our neighbors is evident when you chat with her. The passion is palpable.

As we talk, we discuss in passing that May is Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) month. I bring up the appealing parts of the job from my perspective, including that it's the only work place I've had that's celebrated Lunar New Year with me - a holiday I've loved celebrating with my family for as long as I can remember. Ciara shares that seeing colleagues like me, Jee Hye, and Maggie who bring our own knowledge of our respective cultures and celebrations to the food bank really brings a curiosity for herself and her own heritage. The welcoming, inclusive environment of the food bank has inspired her to want that same kind of happiness inside herself for her own heritage.

She shares that she recently found a book that is helping her connect to her Central Asian side with the first English translation of Jangar, an orally transmitted epic that covers extensive history and struggles of the Kalmyk nomads.

Another fun fact about Ciara is that she's the source of all the origami lotuses you may have spotted if you've been to the back office bullpen where the food bank's administrative work occurs. Ciara says, "It took me a long time to like my own name because it was so hard for people to say. Teachers and other students had a hard time pronouncing it correctly," Her name is pronounced See-AR-uh. She continues, "But I've really grown to enjoy my name and my middle name is Lotus. I learned specifically to make origami lotuses as like a little signature that I've tried to give to most people that work at the food bank. Although since so many new people work here, I need to re-up." Many staff use these lotuses to decorate their desks and workspaces.

That totally endearing personal touch is so Ciara. It's why she's a great representative for the food bank to bring supporters into the fold of our mission. And through all the organizational growth of the last six years it's so special to have someone who can bring newcomers on with a warm welcome. She brings a wealth of organizational knowledge. She originally started in the old building and was able to sign her name onto a beam that now lives on the warehouse ceiling. Her work and expertise in Development and Communications have contributed greatly to our growth.

In her six amazing years at the food bank, Ciara has helped Capital Campaigns make it over the finish line, kicked off summer fundraising events, welcomed almost 30 more staff members, and connected with caring people in Seattle and beyond to raise vital funds to keep our shelves stocked and our resources accessible.

We are so lucky to have a neighbor and staff member as dedicated, curious, and embedded into our community as Ciara.