Tyler, TX- The East Texas Food Bank (ETFB) announced today that the Chief Executive Officer Dennis Cullinane is retiring at the end of the ETFB’s fiscal year on June 30, 2023. 

“The ETFB board is very thankful for the 13 years of service Dennis has provided,” said Jeff Johnston, chair of the ETFB board. “During his tenure, ETFB doubled its meal distribution where today we are providing 27 million meals to 117,300 households in 26 counties in East Texas. He led us through the pandemic where ETFB saw tremendous need with long lines of people seeking food assistance, some for the first time.” 

Cullinane served as Board Chair of Feeding Texas and Board Chair of the Collaborative for Fresh Produce among many other community and national boards and committees. Under his leadership, ETFB was recognized as Non-Profit of the Year by the Tyler Area Chamber of Commerce and twice by the Better Business Bureau. 

“It has been my honor and privilege to serve as the CEO of such an incredible organization since 2010,” said Dennis Cullinane, CEO of ETFB. “I am proud of the impact we have had in East Texas. My goal has been to close the meal gap and ETFB has a strong strategic plan to expand our programs and services so we can meet this goal by 2025. I am excited to have opened our first branch in Lufkin in 2021 with three more opening this year in Tyler, Longview and Texarkana. I am thankful for all of the relationships and partnerships we have built and know ETFB will continue to thrive with the strong team that we have built.” 

The ETFB Board of Directors formed a search committee and hired a firm to help identify and recruit qualified candidates for the CEO position. 

“The new CEO will start in June so he has an opportunity to train with Dennis before his departure,” said Johnston. 

About the East Texas Food Bank 

Established in 1988, the East Texas Food Bank is the largest hunger-relief nonprofit in East Texas covering 26 counties. ETFB provides over 27 million meals each year to 200 partner agencies and feeding programs. Our mission is to fight hunger and feed hope in East Texas. For more information, visit EastTexasfoodbank.org