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50th Anniversary Event
Around the Table Panel Discussion
Around the Table is more than a conversation—it’s a space to listen, learn, and look ahead. This engaging panel discussion brings together community leaders, hunger-relief experts, and individuals with lived experience to provide a clear picture of the state of hunger in South Dakota today. Panelists will share insights on the challenges families face, the innovative ways organizations and partners are responding, and the impact of fifty years of Feeding South Dakota’s work.
Most importantly, the discussion will cast a vision for the future—how, together, we can continue building a state where every neighbor has consistent access to nutritious food. Around the Table is an opportunity to connect, reflect, and take part in shaping the next chapter of our mission to end hunger.
Meet today's panelists:
Today's moderator, Claire Babineaux-Fontenot, has served as the Chief Executive Officer of Feeding America since 2018. Her decades long service in social justice and humanitarian efforts is emblematic of her unwavering commitment to working alongside people experiencing food insecurity to create sustainable, equitable solutions in the movement to end hunger.
A Louisiana native, Claire holds a Bachelor of Science from the University of Louisiana in Lafayette, a Juris Doctor from Southern University Law Center in Baton Rouge, La.; and a Master of Laws in Taxation from Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law in Dallas, Texas. Among numerous awards she has received, Claire was named one of Time's 100 most influential people of 2020, was among Forbes 50 Over 50 in 2022 and 2023, and was one of TIME's Women of the Year in 2025.
Anastasia (Stasia) Elsinger is a Registered Dietitian with Avera Dialysis and serves as a contract Dietitian for Eli Lilly research trials. She earned both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in nutrition from South Dakota State University, where she also coordinated the Feeding Brookings program to address community food insecurity.
Anastasia is actively engaged in advancing her profession through service on the South Dakota Board of Nutrition and Dietetics. Passionate about helping others through nutrition, she also enjoys creating allergy-friendly recipes. Outside of work, Anastasia spends her time gardening with her husband and caring for their two cats.
Lexie Fancher is the Tribal Vice-Chairperson of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate (SWO) of the Lake Traverse Reservation. Her job duties focus on the financials of the Tribe, creating new programs, and building collaborations with non-profits and other Tribal programs centering on Food sovereignty.
Lexie completed her Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice and minor in Psychology at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, TX. She and her husband just celebrated their 5-year anniversary and are currently expecting their second child.
Lori Dykstra is the CEO of Feeding South Dakota, the state’s largest hunger-relief organization serving all 66 counties in South Dakota. A graduate of the University of South Dakota, she spent the first two decades of her career building executive leadership skills in both the for-profit and non-profit sectors.
Along with team members, communities, and agency partners, Lori strives to support Feeding South Dakota’s vision of a state where no one person’s health, well-being or potential is hindered by the availability of nutritious food.
Meal Ticket Tour
Explore our warehouse and experience the fight against hunger firsthand. At each stop, you’ll take part in interactive games that reveal how Feeding South Dakota sources, evaluates, and distributes food, and how programs like the BackPack and Mobile Food Distributions work to reach neighbors facing hunger. Collect punches on your ticket at every station while learning how, together, we turn meals into hope for families across the state.
Budget the BackPack
This interactive game challenges you to stretch a budget to “pack the backpack,” choosing from a mix of kid-friendly foods while balancing nutrition, variety, and shelf life—just like our BackPack Program does each week.From Road to Table
This decision-making game puts you in the shoes of our Mobile Food Distribution team, following the journey of how food reaches a neighbor’s table. Explore each step along the way—from our partners to the mobile distributions—and learn how it all comes together to fight hunger.Label Logic
This hands-on sorting game gives participants a behind-the-scenes look at how Feeding South Dakota evaluates donated food for safety and nutritional value, transforming assorted items into meals that reach our programs and partners to fight hunger.- Spin to Serve
Spin the wheel and test your knowledge with trivia questions that highlight the impact Feeding South Dakota and its supporters have made in the fight against hunger.
- Where's it From?
This matching game helps participants explore how Feeding South Dakota sources food by connecting different types of food to the diverse partners—farmers, retailers, manufacturers, and community drives—that make hunger relief possible.
50 Years of Impact
Support our mission and make every meal more than a meal.