A conversation with Paula Sellars, Deputy Director at Bounty & Soul, an organization leading one of the most community-rooted mobile market programs in the country.

Bounty & Soul’s work goes far beyond food distribution. Through their Produce to the People program, they’ve built a model centered on trust, dignity, and strong community relationships.

In this session, we’ll explore how their program operates day-to-day, how they’ve built deep community connections, and how that foundation allowed them to respond quickly and effectively during the 2025 North Carolina hurricane Helene.

We’ll cover:

• What a strong, community-driven mobile market program looks like and how Bounty & Soul built trust and participation

• How their team adapted operations during a major crisis and what made their response effective

• The role of volunteers, partnerships, and key lessons for organizations building or scaling similar programs

This goes beyond one moment or crisis, it’s about what it really takes to build a program that works when it counts.