At the Dublin Food Pantry, we are fortunate to have the support of our entire community as we work to provide food and essential resources for our neighbors in need. We could not do what we do daily without the support of the City of Dublin, our corporate sponsors, and our friends and community members who have stepped up to help others in need.
We would love to introduce you to a few of our donors and share with you why each of them has chosen to support the Dublin Food Pantry and our capital campaign to help us secure a new, larger home for the pantry. Stay tuned for more stories from our donors on why they have chosen to support the Dublin Food Pantry. Now, let’s meet Megan and Mike James and their family to learn more about their commitment to #FeedDublin.
MJ2 Marketing | The James Family
Megan and Mike James have lived in Dublin since 1994, first moving to the Brandon neighborhood and then later to two different homes in Coventry Woods. The James’ have three children, two of whom attended Dublin City Schools.
It was in 2008 that Megan started MJ2 Marketing in her home community of Dublin, Ohio. Over the past 15 years, the agency has outgrown three different office spaces throughout Dublin. MJ2 Marketing is proud to have called Historic Dublin home for the past several years and is expanding its footprint further. Megan notes, “My team at MJ2 has a huge sense of pride and ownership of the Dublin community. Many of us work, live, and now play here with the amazing opportunity that Bridge Park has brought us.”
Megan and Mike’s first exposure to the Dublin Food Pantry was through their children who used to volunteer at the pantry with their sports and school organizations for service hours. She says, “I never really thought about how small the space was to serve individuals with food insecurity back then.”
Why The Jameses Give…
As many can relate, all of that changed when Megan learned more about the urgent and growing need in Dublin. Once hearing of what was needed from the community and the plan to kickoff the “Everyone Eats Here” campaign, Megan and her team were all in and have worked closely with the pantry ever since.
In addition to working on the campaign, MJ2 Marketing has contributed $5,000 as a Dublin-based business in support of the capital campaign, and subsequent operating expenses, and challenged other Dublin businesses to do the same. The team also has participated in various fundraisers outside of the capital campaign, including Founder’s Day and the upcoming Bounty at Bridge Park in support of the new pantry. “You know the whole MJ2 team is committed to the pantry when they all ran together in the Dublin Irish Festival 5K sporting Dublin Food Pantry t-shirts!” In addition, Megan is very proud that every team member at MJ2 has made a donation to the campaign.
But Megan’s commitment to the pantry’s efforts doesn’t stop with the efforts of MJ2 Marketing. During a night out at The Pearl one evening last summer, she started to share some startling numbers that she was learning about the number of families the pantry was serving.” “Who knows,” she told Mike, “some of these people we are walking across the Dublin Link bridge might very well be hungry while we are sitting here enjoying our expensive dinner on the patio.”
That conversation prompted Megan and Mike to sit down with their three kids who advise the family’s charitable donor-advised fund and asked them if food insecurity was important and could be one of the pillars they embraced. Their youngest son who is a collegiate athlete simply said, ”It is really hard to learn when you are hungry. And impossible to play sports or any activities when you are hungry.”
With this new understanding that there were people in their affluent community who were hungry and unable to satisfy the most basic needs, the James family pledged a significant commitment over the next three years, through 2024, to help secure the building and contribute to operational expenses. “It is our obligation as members of our Dublin community to help those who need the basics, and that is food and a roof over their heads.”
