As the population of Chatham County continues to grow, CORA, or the Chatham Outreach Alliance, is looking to increase the services it provides to food-insecure residents. But threats to federal funding may hinder its goals. Melissa Driver Beard, the executive director of CORA, and Rebecca Hankins, the development and communications director, recently sat down with 97.9 The Hill’s Aaron Keck for a conversation about these developments. “Last year we saw a 40% increase in the request for food assistance,” said Beard. “We’re on track to see a 20% increase on top of that this year.” In terms of real numbers, Beard says that translates to an increase from 91,000 requests to 120,000. To help meet that figure, they decided to open a second Chatham County location by merging with another food pantry. “Effective July 1, we’ll be taking over and setting up our second choice pantry at the former West Chatham Food Pantry site in Siler City,” said Beard. A second choice pantry allows individual...