About Our Daily Bread Food Pantry

Amanda has over 30 years of Non-Profit leadership experience, most recently serving as the Executive Director of a Breast Cancer organization in Sacramento, CA.  From AIDS to the arts to the environment, the Episcopal Church and literacy, Amanda has made a career out of taking organizations to the next level, improving programs, mentoring staff, strengthening boards and growing donations and fundraising efforts.

Amanda Nelson grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and got her B.A. from U.C. Berkeley. Amanda has worked and lived on both coasts, a bit in the South, as well as Puerto Rico, London, and Luxembourg.

Having held various roles from a volunteer to a staff member, a board member, and consultant in many groups. It is through these eyes, that Amanada can see what a great organization ODBFP is, not only in its efficiency but also in its effectiveness throughout the community. It is for this reason, she wanted to be a part of ODBFP.

Allyson grew up in Marlton, NJ attended Slippery Rock State College in PA where she majored in Psychology. Moved to Texas when she was 19 to finish college at Texas A & M Commerce with a degree in Human Resources and Operations Management.  She later furthered her education through post-graduate work in HR at the University of Texas at Arlington and University of Phoenix.

Allyson’s career began in diverse business areas such as the oil fields of Oklahoma and West Texas as Safety and HR Director, the Homebuilding industry and finally, the last 20 years of her career were in the Healthcare Financial space where she was the senior executive of Human Resources for a large international corporation saying grace over approximately 8,000 people. Her specialty was domestic and international employment law and relations.

Allyson received her lifetime Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) designation in 1989.  She also received her Managed Healthcare Professional (MHP) designation as well as a certified management instructor for numerous courses and Certified Payroll Professional designation.

Her first husband, Jerry, died of cancer and she was a single Mom of a 5 and 15-year-old for about 7 years before she met Marco Islander Jim Richards, who had lost his wife to the same disease. They have 6 children between them.  Allyson is currently on the Board of the Marco Island Charter Middle School, a member of the Community Foundation of Collier County, the Women’s Foundation, the Finance Committee for San Marco Catholic Church, a member of CCW, a board member of the Marco Island Historical Society, Christmas Island Style, assists with the Our Daily Bread Food Pantry, is a co-leader of the monthly senior Luncheon entitled “Lunch with Our Friends Over 60”, and a member of the Marco Island Park and Recreation Board. Additionally, she coordinates a “bread run” through the YMCA and weekly mobile food pantries (in conjunction with the Our Daily Bread Food Pantry) both on and off the island.

Since moving to Marco Island, she has been honored with the Spirit of Marco award, the Volunteer of the Year award and the Women of Initiative Award for the Community Foundation of Collier County.

Hailing originally from Massena, NY, Nancy held a variety of Engineering and Executive Management positions with Alcoa, Inc. and Kodak in New York, Indiana, Tennessee and Georgia.  Her education includes a BS degree in Mechanical Engineering from Clarkson University and a Master of Arts degree in Applied Behavioral Science from Bastyr University.

Joining Our Daily Bread Food Pantry, Inc. in June, 2016 after retiring, Nancy currently serves as President of this volunteer organization that has seen a growth of over 400% in the last 2 years.  Nancy is a member of San Marco Catholic Church and Catholic Coalition of Women (CCW) and is co-founder of “Lunch with Friends”, a monthly luncheon bringing together restaurants, civic organizations, churches, Seniors seeking socialization, and the food pantry.

As a Founder and Vice President of the Pantry, Liz Pecora draws upon her corporate executive experience to communicate the mission of working to wipe out hunger in the greater community. Before moving to Florida, Liz held positions with Delta Airlines and the hotel and hospitality industry, working in national sales and marketing. Known for her caring demeanor and focus, Liz is recognized for her ability to engage the community to build a greater community both at the Pantry and in Collier County.

In 2016, Liz was one of the founding members of Our Daily Bread Food Pantry and had co-led the continual expansion of the pantry over the past several years. Together with the other founders, she was recognized as Marco Island Civic Association’s 2017 Humanitarian of the Year award. 

Liz’s passion for providing food assistance to anyone in need began when she was widowed and in need. Receiving food from her church’s food pantry with love and dignity helped her get back into the employment market. It was such a blessing for Liz that she vowed if, given the opportunity, she would someday be a part of hunger relief activities. That opportunity came in 2016 with the creation of Our Daily Bread Food Pantry.

In addition to her work with the Pantry in hunger relief, Liz serves as Vice Chair of the Greater Marco Long Term Recovery Group, formed after Hurricane Irma, to maximize the effectiveness of relief efforts in dealing with future natural disasters. In 2022 Liz was trained as a court-appointed Guardian ad Litem. She and her husband serve as pro-bono advocates for children in the 20th Judicial Circuit- Collier County, FL.

 

Serving as the Secretary and Director of Finance & Office Management at the Pantry, Vicki Johnson brings significant systems and processes experience in her role. Across the years, Vicki has often placed herself ahead of opportunities and is recognized for her trailblazing spirit. As the first female graduate of a Computer Science degree at Eastern Kentucky University, Vicki became part of a small cohort of female programmers across the country and launched her career with Federal Intermediate Credit Bank.

Foreseeing a greater use for technology on a personal level, Vicki joined IBM where she began as a Systems Analyst and moved up to manage mainframe software development at Santa Teresa Research Lab in California. Relocating to Boca Raton, Vicki was at the forefront of DOS development and the first IBM personal computers in her role as Software Development Manager. She went on to work in Japan, Scotland and the United States installing manufacturing software as an International Project Manager.

Bringing her expertise into retirement, Vicki is a founding member of the Pantry. Together with the other founders, she was awarded Marco Island Civic Association’s 2017 Humanitarian of the Year award and helped the Pantry achieve “Outstanding New Agency” by The Harry Chapin Food Bank in 2017.  Vicki is an active Christian and member of Family Church on Marco Island.

Ron was born and raised in Upstate New York and attended the State University of NY at Albany earning Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in accounting, becoming a Certified Public Accountant in 1974.  He started his career with the accounting firm of KPMG and later continued his career with the State of New York managing and directing Accounting and Auditing Departments at various State agencies for the next thirty years.   He also served as an Adjunct Professor at Siena College in Loudonville, NY as an instructor of Intermediate Accounting.  Ron served as an officer in the New York Army National Guard, retiring in 1979.  Following retirement from NYS service in 2004, Ron and his wife Vicki moved to Marco Island where he started a CPA practice.

Along with his volunteer work with the Food Pantry, Ron is a Member of the San Marco Catholic Church and serves as a Eucharistic Minister.  He has been a member of the San Marco Knights of Columbus for the last 16 years, currently serving as Treasurer for the Council and Faithful Purser for the Assembly. Ron is also the Assistant Treasurer and a Board member for the Marco Island Historical Society.