Brigham resigns

The Regional Food Distribution Association board has lost its president.

Larry Brigham, who has been an active and vocal member of the board for about five years, announced Thursday he had resigned as chair and president of RFDA board because of health issues. Brigham has suffered from a serious loss of vision and is now battling leukemia.

He gave his notice to the board officially in the form of a letter on Wednesday, a day before he made the resignation public to media.

“Sometimes you have to make tough decisions,” Brigham said during a media tour of the renovations of the RFDA’s new location on South Syndicate Avenue. “It is sometimes something you do with a sense of sadness and loss.

“Personally, health issues have come up and I’m having to battle leukemia and a loss of eye sight. It’s not possible for me to continue with the volunteer activity that I’ve taken on at the RFDA.”

Brigham said he has received a lot of support from his wife, family, friends and other community members since the diagnosis. He added that while he was stepping down from his current position, he wasn’t about to disappear from the board.

Instead of meetings and face-to-face conversations, Brigham said his role with the RFDA will likely involve more phone calls and conference calls.

Brigham’s fight against hunger in this area didn’t start when he joined the RFDA board. His wife, Cathy Brigham, said shortly after retirement he began reading about poverty and became interested in doing something to help the people who suffered from it.
“He’s always had a desire to help people,” Cathy Brigham said.

Brigham established a food bank at the Redwood Park Church that he and his wife began attending. He chaired a committee within the church and even helped establish a thrift store to support the church’s food bank.

“He kind of got his feet wet in the food bank, and then he was looking at the bigger picture. There were lots of food banks around and there needed to be some co-ordination.”

The RFDA existed, but Cathy Brigham said the organization was still in its infancy. Brigham joined the board and the organization took off from there.

“I think it was very tough for him (to decide to resign) because he really is passionate about his work. But it had to be done because of the diagnosis of the leukemia.”

Brigham will officially step down as the organization’s chair this weekend. He will be replaced by the board’s vice-chair, Kelly Hicks.

“He’s got a vision that goes far beyond what the RFDA originally had,” Hicks said. “His vision has led us to expand our operations to what you see now.

“Without him we wouldn’t be where we are today. I think we’d still be at 704 McKenzie St. working out of the basement, working in the January cold and not having a proper working organization.”

That vision didn’t just lead to a new and bigger building on Syndicate.

Hicks said Brigham’s work helped the RFDA establish the concept of a community kitchen, which teaches people about nutrition, cooking and may even help people in need find employment.

It’s a vision that Hicks said the 12-person board will continue to move forward with.