Loaves & Fishes Board member Daniel Fairley is passionate about social justice and equity, with a focus on service and action. His involvement in the Charlottesville community - Big Brothers, Big Sisters volunteer; member, and now President of 100 Black Men; and as Youth Opportunity Coordinator for the City of Charlottesville since 2017 – has deepened his commitment.
Daniel’s service-oriented family provided a foundation for his beliefs. His grandparents started a food pantry in King George, Virginia, and several in his family had careers in the federal government.
With a focus on working for the federal government and continuing the family tradition of service, Daniel majored in Social Justice and minored in Arabic at the University of Richmond. While at Richmond, he worked in the Student Affairs office and really enjoyed the retreats that focused on social justice. He leveraged his family connections to obtain an internship with the Obama administration in the White House Operations Department, where he found many opportunities to infuse social justice in the work his team was doing: he helped start gender neutral bathrooms, created a map for the White House that identified handicapped accessible routes, and auto-captioned all of the videos that came out of the White House. And yes, he met both President Obama and Vice President Biden in 2014.
Following his internship, he earned his Master’s degree in Education with a focus on Higher Education and Student Affairs Administration at the University of Vermont. After graduation he moved to Charlottesville, where he became very involved in the community, focusing initially on 100 Black Men and as a Big Brother.
Through his role as the City’s Youth Opportunity Coordinator, Daniel led the City’s Youth Council in interviewing more than 250 City School students and helped the Youth Council present their findings to the School Board. One of their requests, based on information from the students, was to make changes to the gifted program. The Youth Council’s research and presentation demonstrating the lack of equity in the program led the School Board to change its policy so students are tested in the third grade, rather than 1st, when all children have had a chance to practice with tests.
Daniel also has worked with youth on documentaries to bring attention to the CAYIP youth internship program. As they created the documentaries, they learned about different types of equipment and how to edit videos. The documentaries have won prizes at both national and international film festivals.
Daniel’s interest in service started through the food bank in King George that his grandparents founded, and Daniel’s mother currently works with The Good News Kitchen food bank, so it was natural for him to become actively involved at Loaves & Fishes. During the first eight months of the COVID-19 pandemic, Daniel’s boss at the City’s Human Service Department generously allowed him to volunteer one day a week at the pantry as part of his job. The City also donated CARES funds to the pantry.
When asked what he enjoys most about volunteering at the pantry, Daniel responded that it is working behind the scenes – to make things happen – just like he did on his internship at the White House. He particularly enjoys the prep work for the food distribution and noted there are so many aspects to planning – including working with the pantry’s nutritionist, Monica Davis - to ensure that each cart of food provided to clients has lots of nutrient dense food. He shared that for every 100 bags of food he packs, he knows that 100 people will have food, which is really rewarding. And, very importantly, he pointed out that thanks to so many generous food providers, the pantry never runs out of food!
