Meet Major McNeil III

Meet Major McNeil III, one of our 11 graduates in Freestore Foodbank’s LIFT the TriState Class #12.

Though he’s had a few detours along the way, Major is now going places, starting to build a career powered by our Logistics, Inventory Management, Facilities Management and Transportation (LIFT) job training program.

Major graduated Withrow High School in 1991 and found that with a felony on his record from his 20s, he’s been limited to certain jobs such as construction. Most recently, he worked with a local manufacturing company making $9/hour. When he contracted COVID-19, it shut him down for a month and caused anxiety severe enough for him to seek help from one of Freestore Foodbank’s partners, Talbert House. A caseworker there gave Major the health care and support to help him think about what could be next. For Major, the caseworker felt our LIFT program fit the bill.

Major was driven to succeed in LIFT, receiving the coveted CLA (Certified Logistics Associate) and CLT (Technician) certifications, among others, upon graduation. With guidance from Freestore Foodbank staff, he’s launching a new career this week in inventory control at Verst Logistics, starting at $16/hour with benefits.

At graduation, Major let us know he is grateful to the organizations and people who helped him get to this exciting place in his life. “I was just getting by and barely paying my rent and bills monthly. LIFT was a game changer. Now I’m on a career path forward and will be able to start saving for the future.”

Congratulations, Major, and thank you to our community for the support of the families we serve at Freestore Foodbank!