Board Member Spotlight: Hsiao-Ching Chou

Hsiao-Ching Chou has been a Director on the board for about two years. She is an author of the “Chinese Soul Food” cookbook and works as a communications consultant. As a member of the board she helps with many aspects of the administrative side of the food bank.

“We work with Jen [Muzia] and her team at the food bank to oversee some fiscal related matters. So we’ll vote for example on some budget matters,” Chou said. The board also helps with getting bank loans and fundraising ideas. Along with managing the business side of things, Chou says the board members are “tasked with tapping into our networks to either get our friends and family members to support the food bank in the ways that they can in the ways that they can.”

Hsiao-Ching Chou, Board Member at Ballard Food Bank

Because Chou is involved in Seattle’s food community due to her cookbook and her cooking classes at Hot Stove Society she is able to bring unique help to the food bank. “I know different people who are willing to work with the food bank in some way and I can then connect the food bank with those people,” she said. “Because I have worked in food writing and public relations and worked with restaurants, I know a lot of people who are either chefs or writers or food business owners. The food bank will have fundraisers where maybe they will need auction items or we have the virtual event where there are cooking demos being auctioned off and Colleen [Martinson] will reach out to me and ask if I know anyone who would be willing to offer a class that they could use as an auction item,” Chou said.

You might recognize Hsiao-Ching from our virtual auction in August. She auctioned her popular potsticker class to benefit Ballard Food Bank!

-Guest post by Adria Cooper

Adria Cooper is a communications/social media volunteer with Ballard Food Bank. A life-long Ballard resident and student at Ballard High School, she is looking forward to becoming the Features Editor of The Talisman, BHS’s student newspaper, in the 2020-2021 school year.