Rhode Island Community Food Bank

i M P R O V i N G F O O D Q u A L i t Y
Giving Back is a Family Affair
Family matriarch Barbara Linnell and her late husband Jack instilled the importance of giving back in their daughter Kristen
Gower, husband David, and their children Steven, 13, Allison, 10, John, 8, and Peter, 3.
Barbara Linnell and her late husband Jack have
been long-time and generous supporters of
the Food Bank. As parents, and subsequently
grandparents, they created a legacy of giving.
Adopted as a young child, Jack and his wife started
a family when they adopted their daughter, Kristen.
Now married, Kristen and her husband David remember
vividly what the Food Bank meant to Mr. Linnell. “He
always wanted to make sure we knew that helping
others was extremely important to him,” David recalls.
Throughout his lifetime, Kristen believes her father
recognized the need to give back and help his community
because he felt so blessed to grow up in a home
with opportunities.
8 A 8 n n u A AA n nl n u uR A Ae p l o R e et p o o2 0 R R1 t 0 2 2● 0 1 1R 0 I ● C o R Rm I C Cm o ou m mn I m mt y u n nf I Io t o y d f o ob o oa d n k b a n k
When David and Kristen’s first child, Steven, was
young, they remember Jack encouraging them, “Now
that you have a son, you need to show him the Food
Bank.” A few years after his grandfather’s passing, Steven
can point to where Jack has been memorialized in the
Food Bank’s Pathway to End Hunger.
“We are a family that realizes how important it is
to help others,” Barbara, the family matriarch, explains
of the legacy they want to continue.
Like her Dad, Kristen recognizes how fortunate she’s
been and makes giving back a big part of raising her
family. She tells us, “In order to appreciate what you
have, you have to be aware of what is around you. I am
proud to be able to carry on my father’s teachings to my
children Steven, 13, Allison, 10, John, 8, and Peter, 3.”