Today we’d like to introduce you to Rebecca Lourido.
Hi Rebecca, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today.
The nonprofit and environmental industries are my big passions, so I will fill you in on those journeys. I started volunteering here and there at beach cleanups, for the Salvation Army during the holidays, and stockings for deployed soldiers around the holidays.
I joined the Junior League of the Palm Beaches in 2018 and that ignited a passion for serving the community in me. I am currently the incoming Community Vice President. Our focus area went from human trafficking, and foster care, to literacy and education. I have volunteered with, held collection drives for, and fundraising for some of our partners outside of the League as well, along with for many other local nonprofits.
Learning more about my passion and leadership skills through JLPB led me to start a Little Free Pantry program in Jupiter, which blossomed into my nonprofit called Fighting Hunger One Bite at a Time PBC. We received nonprofit status last year. Our purpose is to help alleviate food insecurity from West Palm Beach-Tequesta through our Little Free Food Pantries, food bags for children in Title I schools, Veteran food programs, and holiday food distributions.
We have four pantries up in low-income neighborhoods, a homeless center, and a low-income aftercare community center. We are ready to place our fifth one at a center that helps human trafficking victims and homeless youth. Our Veteran program and Weekend Food Bag program are launched and starting to grow. This is a big passion project of mine, and I do not take a salary.
Professionally, I have been in the environmental industry for about eight years now. I knew I wanted a career in this industry since middle school. I started as an Environmental Field Technician, taking groundwater and soil samples for Florida Department of Environmental Protection projects. After that, I became a Project Manager at a local environmental lab, where I worked on projects from drinking water to wastewater, stormwater, the Department of Defense, Petroleum Restoration, FDEP, etc.
I learned a lot at the lab for almost six years, I was the Microbiology Analyst and cross-trained in other labs. I became a certified Project Management Professional and started doing freelance work with my small business, RL Project Solutions LLC. I do freelance Project Management, Field Sampling, and Virtual Assistance.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
There were some struggles and still are. Starting my nonprofit was a bit of a challenge – from creating bylaws to finding my Board of Directors and filing with the IRS. Fundraising, finding food sources, volunteers, and partners can be a challenge as well.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
At Fighting Hunger One Bite at a Time PBC, our purpose is to help alleviate food insecurity from West Palm Beach-Tequesta through our Little Free Food Pantries, food bags for children in Title I schools, Veteran food programs, and holiday food distributions. The pantries are unique and were the first around this area. They are different from a normal food pantry in that they are micro pantries made by an up-cycled newspaper stand and can be accessed at any time. No judgment, no lines.
There are also not many Veteran food programs around. Our program delivers weekly groceries to local wounded/disabled and low-income Veterans. Please email rebecca@
We also provide virtual assistance services, including report writing, SOP/PowerPoint/Spreadsheet creation and editing, proposals, data entry, research, social media management, email management, calendar management, and collection drive/small fundraiser planning. We are experienced in soil, groundwater, and surface water sampling. We are an approved vendor for Palm Beach County and Solid Waste Authority projects. We are OSHA 40 hr Hazwoper certified. Please email rebecca@
What were you like growing up?
I grew up in Jupiter, which is in northern PBC. Like most kids there, I enjoyed going to the beach and adventuring around town with my family and friends.
I also played a lot of different sports. In middle school, I stopped eating meat, and I am still a big animal activist. I also became more eco-conscious at this time, which started my passion for the environmental industry. I even joined the Jupiter Environmental Research and Field Studies Academy in high school.
Contact Info:
Image Credits
Capehart Photography
