Meet our Gleaning Coordinators
North & South Carolina Regional Director
Michael Binger | Email | 919-309-5402
Michael Binger grew up in Greenville, South Carolina, before earning degrees from Wake Forest and Emory Universities.
Michael served United Methodist Churches across North and South Carolina for 16 years before coming to The Society of St. Andrew. Michael is married to another United Methodist pastor and Counselor, and they have two daughters.
Michael has a passion for service and loves leading people to make tangible differences in the lives of their neighbors. His favorite part about SoSA is the incredible people who come together and offer the best of themselves to one another and to strangers in their community.
“There is an incredible beauty in the wide diversity of people who come together in a field for the singular purpose of improving someone else’s life.“
Counties: North Carolina & South Carolina
Western North Carolina, Charlotte Area, & South Carolina Program Coordinator
Maria Gandy | Email | 704-951-7672
Maria was born in Mexico, one of eight children raised in poverty. At age 9, she lost her dad to alcoholism. When Maria was 11, her family moved to Houston, Texas, where she continued to face food insecurity. Maria eventually graduated high school with honors and joined the U.S. Navy, where she met her husband, Clint.
Maria accepted Jesus Christ as her savior in 1998, and she found her faith to be her greatest asset when she lost her daughter, Sofia, to cancer in 2001. Maria has two adult children, Cruz, 22, and Isabel, who currently attends Western North Carolina University. Maria worked for Caterpillar Ministries for over 12 years before becoming the NC/SC Program Coordinator for The Society of St. Andrew.
Maria enjoys gardening and raising butterflies. Her butterfly garden is North American Butterfly Association certified, and she specializes in raising Black Eastern Swallowtails and Monarch butterflies. She is an avid chicken farmer and donates her eggs to seniors in the Huntington Green Neighborhood in Huntersville. She has three dogs, whom she calls her “interns,” and also enjoys sewing, crocheting, and the outdoors. Mowing her lawn and spending time outside with her chickens is how she prefers to relax.
“As a military veteran, mother, volunteer, and educator who has dedicated her life to public service and volunteerism, I am eager to expand upon my work at SoSA, and to continue accelerating and advocating for sustainable programs that empower our communities.”
Counties: North Carolina: Alexander, Anson, Cabarrus, Catawba, Cleveland, Gaston, Iredell, Lincoln, Mecklenburg, Montgomery, Richmond, Rowan, Stanly, Union ♦ South Carolina: Chester, Lancaster, York
Eastern North Carolina Program Coordinator
Alice McCormick | Email | 919-309-5261
Counties: North Carolina:
Area Gleaning Coordinators
Elizabeth City, North Carolina – Bill Leach
Eastern North Carolina
Ryan Bradshaw | Email | 252-557-3009
Ryan Bradshaw is the Department Chair of Business Education and Technology at Johnston Community College and works as the Northeast NC area gleaning coordinator with the Society of St. Andrew. He holds a BS in business administration and a BS in criminal justice from the University of Mount Olive, an MBA in marketing from the University of Phoenix, and a doctorate in education from Liberty University. He lives is eastern North Carolina with his wife, two daughters, and son.
Counties: Beaufort, Carteret, Craven, Duplin, Edgecombe, Greene, Halifax, Jones, Lenoir, Martin, Nash, Onslow, Pamlico, Pitt, Wayne, Wilson
Low Country South Carolina
Aundrea Brown | Email | 843-471-0495
“If you can’t feed a hundred people, then just feed one” -Mother Teresa
My name is Aundrea Brown; I’m a “Gullah” native of South Carolina. Human Service is my field of study at Denmark Technical College. (AA in Human Service) As the Low Country Area Gleaning Coordinator. I will work with farmers, volunteers, food pantries, and other organizations to harvest and share healthy food, reduce food waste and build caring communities.
In 2015 I moved from Phoenix AZ to Durham, NC I had my first brush with The Society of St. Andrew at a potato drop. I remember counting fast-moving bags of sweet potatoes as they were loaded into distribution vehicles.
After four years of volunteering to glean and distribute produce to food pantries, my involvement with SoSA has grown deeper and more constant. I was often asked to help lead gleaning events and through that experience, I became the Triangle Area Coordinator for nine counties.
As the Low Country Area Coordinator, my upbeat and can do-attitude are infectious even on the hottest days of the South Carolina summer. My coworker said it best: “Aundrea can be found cracking jokes and sharing stories, making sure her volunteers feel less like solitary workers and more like a collaborative team”.
Thank you for all you do to bring good food to our hungry neighbors.
Counties: (SC counties): Beaufort, Jasper, Hampton and Colleton
Fayetteville
Tricia Lounsberry | Email | 910-583-0586
Tricia Lounsberry grew up in Fayetteville, North Carolina, watching her father gather leftover produce for the hungry. He would
park his truck next to harvested potato fields, glean forgotten spuds, and distribute them to folks in need. Tricia’s mom had a servant’s heart too. She was on crutches for the last ten years of her life, but she never stopped driving shut-ins to the beauty shop to brighten up their days. This attitude toward service was contagious.
Tricia was living in Tarboro in 1999 when Hurricane Floyd hit North Carolina. Immediately she got involved in the relief efforts and has not stopped serving the poor since. When she moved back to Fayetteville in 2004, she signed on with The Society of St. Andrew to glean for hunger relief. She quickly connected with gleaners from a broad range of churches, crossing racial, ethnic, and class lines.
Gleaning in Fayetteville spreads by word of mouth. Tricia calls farmers, calls her gleaners, and God’s work gets done. Nowadays, she delivers potatoes to some of the same places her father did all those years ago. Thirteen years in, it’s hard to imagine the Fayetteville region without Tricia Lounsberry at the helm!
Counties: Bladen, Columbus, Cumberland, Harnett, Hoke, Lee, Moore, Robeson, Sampson, Scotland
Triad
Paul Thombs | Email | 336-347-8814
Triad-area coordinator Paul Thombs was born in Kings Mountain, NC, one of eleven children. His father was a Methodist minister. Paul did his undergraduate studies at Winston Salem State University and is a retired Disability Specialist for Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center. He’s also a bi-vocational Pastor/Founder of Nehemiah Worship Center of Winston Salem. He and his wife, Virginia, have an adult daughter who is married with two sons, William and Daniel.
Volunteerism and giving back to his community is important to Paul. He is the past president of the Big Brother Big Sister Volunteer Association, past member of the Board of the Forsyth Jail and Prison Ministry, past member of the board of directors of the Society of Saint of Andrew, and a recipient of the WXII Piedmont Triad Volunteer Award.
Paul has been an active volunteer with The Society of St. Andrew for many years and in retirement, has signed on to coordinate gleanings in the Triad! One of Paul’s greatest joys is rescuing food and ensuring it gets to those in need. And it has been especially rewarding working with a group of committed volunteers averaging 75+ years of age!
Counties: Alamance, Caswell, Davidson, Davie, Forsyth, Guilford, Randolph, Rockingham, Stokes, Surry, Wilkes, Yadkin
Triangle
Sally Smith | Email | 919-533-9609
Triangle Area, North Carolina
Sally grew up on a small cattle farm covering parts of Chatham and Orange Counties. Her family raised all the vegetables and fruits needed to feed the family, along with the hay needed for the cows. So it was a busy working farm upbringing for her, filled with the outdoors, animals, crops, and hard work.
College, and then work as a teacher and as a physician intervened for about 40 years, till she retired in She immediately began volunteering for the Society of St. Andrew, and jumped at the chance to be the Triangle Area Coordinator! The opportunity to travel to different farms, gather different crops, and donate fresh vegetables to needy organizations has been a dream come true. Working with St Andrews has taken Sally back to her roots, and she is happiest when out on a gleaning.
“The farmers and the gleaners are super people! Plus, gleaning results in so many good things happening – it’s just the best way to live”, says Sally.
Her family farm is still going strong. Her 96-year-old Dad is still known as a farmer in the community. She and her husband, Rob raised 4 children, two of whom have become farmers themselves.
This work is a blessing on every level – come glean with us!!
Counties: Alamance, Chatham, Durham, Franklin, Granville, Johnston, Lee, Orange, Person, Vance, Wake, Warren
Western North Carolina
Barbara Grimm | Email | 828-505-6252
Counties: Alleghany, Ashe, Avery, Buncombe, Burke, Caldwell, Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Haywood, Henderson, Jackson, Macon, Madison, Mitchell, McDowell, Rutherford, Polk, Swain, Transylvania, Yancey, and Watauga
Midlands South Carolina
Kris Pickens | Email
Kris grew up in the suburbs of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and earned her undergraduate degree from Kent
State University in Kent, Ohio. Kris has spent her adult life working in social services with children and families. She became the Executive Director of a NON-profit Agency in Columbia, SC, for over 18 years, whose mission was to treat and prevent child abuse and neglect. For the last seven years, she has served as a Family Engagement Specialist for the SC Department of Social Services and worked with children and families all over South Carolina.
Kris joined the Society of St. Andrews in June 2022 and is excited about building a network of farmers, churches, and agencies in the Midlands and bringing food to those in need. Kris has been married for 43 years and has three married daughters and eight grandchildren, who also live in Columbia, SC. Kris loves spending time with all her grandchildren.
Kris has a passion for animals and children. She and her husband have two young, large puppies and three cats. Kris has been an avid horse owner most of her adult life but does not currently own one. Kris has a love for being part of making a difference in the lives of others. There is divine meaning in being a witness to change. Contributing beyond oneself for the good of all creates a better self and a more meaningful community.