Join Our Team

John Walker | CEO

John Walker is the CEO of Expanding The Table, as well as the Committee Chair of the Executive Committee. His 20 years of experience in a procurement career serving the citizens of the State of South Carolina has provided him with an understanding of contract law, product acquisition, and logistics management.

John has been involved with Expanding The Table from the beginning when it was a mission of Ashley Ridge Church. Over the last 2 years, John has purchased the food, helped with meal preparation, driving the truck, serving meals, and hosted our weekly guests.

John has developed relationships with many of the guests and the volunteers who have passed through this mission. His heart and passion for this mission is visible in his involvement and dedication to caring for those in need within our community.

Mark Lavigne | President

Mark Lavigne is the President of the Board of Directors for Expanding The Table, as well as the Committee Chair for the Long Range Planning Committee. He has been a critical part of Expanding The Table over the past year. He is involved with the cooking team, and sandwich-making team, serving on the truck, and he is an active member of the Board of Directors.

Mark has been a long-time member of the Summerville community and is very active within his neighborhood Homeowners Association. He is a retired Air Force Officer with over 20 years of service. He also taught general math, algebra, geometry, and science at Givhan’s Achievement Academy for 17 years.

Mark’s connection to the community and his connection to the parents and youth he assisted at the Givhan’s Achievement Academy provide deeper insight to the population Expanding the Table services. He treats everyone with respect and is here to help and assist them.

Victor G. Coachman | Vice President

Victor. G Coachman is the co-founder of “Circle of Love Charleston.” Their purpose is to feed homeless and those needing a nutritious meal. Victor has always felt a calling to serve others.

Victor was a Director at Large with “Help 4 Kids Florence” (2014-2017) “Help 4 Kids Florence” is a nonprofit organization that provides food for the weekends for all elementary aged students in all Florence school districts that receive free or reduced lunches. Throughout his lifetime, Victor has been involved with numerous operations and organizations that help and assist those in need. For many years Victor was certified and taught numerous class for the American Red Cross/ Disaster Services and Community Emergency Response Team (CERT). As Worshipful Master of his Lodge, he implemented an annual caring program called “Christmas in April.” During April, they would clean up and repair homes for the elderly in Florence, SC.

Victor moved to N. Charleston in 2018. He is retired from: The United States Marine Corps, MCJROTC Instructor and US Postal Service. He is the proud father of six children and two grandsons. He is engaged to Ms. Delores Wilson of Charleston. He is a member of The Marine Corps League- Low Country Detachment, The Montford Point Marine Association, and The Low Country Leathernecks. He is a volunteer on the USS Yorktown/ Patriots Point and an instructor at the Yorktown Flight Academy. Victor is a graduate of North Miami Beach High School, and a graduate of Limestone College and Webster University.

Victor is the Committee Chair of the Marketing Committee with Expanding The Table.

Karstan Mc Elfresh | Secretary

Karsten McElfresh serves as Treasurer and Secretary for Expanding The Table and Committee Chair for the Volunteer Committee with Expanding The Table. He and his family have spent many hours working on this mission.  He has driven the truck, served, and has been the team lead on many occasions. 

Karsten owns Natural Tendencies Landscape Professionals and Terra Bella Garden Center located in North Charleston.  Karsten’s experience with small business has enabled him to develop meaningful and lasting relationships with the many customers, vendors, and other local businesses in the Greater Charleston area.  His business experience has been a valued asset to Expanding The Table.

Karsten McElfresh has lived in the Lowcountry since 2005.  Karsten met his wife, Christie at the University of Kentucky.  They reside in North Charleston with their three children: Kate, Caleb, and Karlie. Karsten enjoys traveling with his family, eating out, coaching youth sports and attending Ashley Ridge Church with his family.

Leah Odom | Treasurer

Leah has been in the Summerville area most of her life. She’s seen the growth in our town and knows the challenges rapid growth can make to all members of community firsthand. She is currently a mortgage lender with Homeowners Financial Group. For the past 20 years, so much of her time goes to financial education and preparation for buying a home. She spends a great deal of time with each client teaching them the better monetary habits.

Leah has two sons. She tries hard to have a car hobby in her MINI Cooper and is looking forward to driving the truck and making meals possible for those in need.

Kim Tabor | Member At Large

Kim moved to Summerville, SC in August 2022 from Detroit Metro Area after living there her whole life. She retired after working 25+ years in the automotive industry. Kim has an MSF degree and is a Certified Six Sigma Blackbelt. In her free time she has a small cottage baking business, Cakes and Other Sweet Things, which makes custom cookies and cakes. Kim served on the board of Steppin’ Out/ AIDS Walk Detroit for 14 years. The 501c3 organization provided funding to agencies that provided direct care assistance to people living with HIV/ AIDS. Kim also served in the capacity of Volunteer Coordinator (over 400 volunteers), Vice President and President.

Hunter Jackson | Member At Large

A third generation, lifelong South Carolinian, Hunter is the SC Market Leader for Nations Lending and Branch Manager of the Lowcountry Market.

Hunter and his wife Carolynne, along with their children Noah and Riley, live in Historic Summerville where they are blessed to be able to enjoy everything that Summerville has to offer.  As a special needs parent, Hunter and Carolynne are heavily involved with the special needs programs within DD2 and the Summerville Community.

During his “off time”, Hunter works with many non-profits within the community such as Mentoring youth with The Beacons, Member of the Town of Summerville ATAX Committee, Summerville Dream’s Economic Vitality Committee, as the Public Image Chair for the Summerville Lunch Rotary Club, and founding/running Friendly Downtown Summerville.  He is also an active board member for The Summerville Rotary Club and The Community Arts Center.

Hunter is proud to join the ETT board, an organization that feeds everyone without qualification.  With food politics becoming an ever expanding topic of conversation, Hunter states, “The beautiful thing about Expanding The Table is that truly everyone is welcome.  You don’t have to fit within a box to receive a free hot nutritious meal.  Food shouldn’t be political.  Food is nourishment and everyone everywhere deserves nourishment”.

Board Member Responsibilities

This is the list of responsibilities that each board member must take to stay an active board member.

• Donate a minimum of $250.00 quarterly or secure a $1,000 annual donation for Expanding the Table during his/her term on the Board. All donations are to be posted prior to the end of each fiscal year.
• Attend Board meetings. Board Members are only allowed to miss 3 meetings annually. After 3 meetings are missed, a Board Member may be asked to resign from the Board.
• All Board members must participate in the Expanding the Table mission with a minimum of 3 servings per quarter. Serving could include serving on the ETT food truck, cooking teams, or special events.
• Be actively involved in all Fundraising events for Expanding the Table by selling tickets and/or volunteering for each event.
• Support the Board meeting agenda by providing at least one speaker to our Board meetings during his/her tenure on the Board.
• Share ETT’s Mission and inform others about our events and how we serve the community. Sharing Facebook posts or Instagram posts are way to share the message of our mission.
• Research a potential funder for ETT, and present at a Board meeting.
• Keep ETT brochures and business cards readily available.

Committees

Executive Committee 

This committee and chairman are responsible for keeping a healthy and strong board. Typically, the president of the board, or the future of the board. This committee will also help maintain everyone’s up-to-date status of the board, how long each term is, how many members at large are there, and things of that nature.

Marketing Committee

This committee and chairman are responsible for working with the President and Vice President to address three primary areas:  Communication of our mission to other outside individuals, nonprofits, and companies, explaining who we are and who we serve.  Also, this committee will be responsible for always seeking new ways for us to better serve our guests and recruit volunteers. Lastly, present a face to the community defining our mission and always seeking support from others.

Long Range Planning Committee

This committee and chairman are responsible for planning how they can feed more meals per week, new Food Trucks, and future events to help spread the word. This committee will help with storing food as well.

Volunteer Committee 

This committee and chairman will be responsible for having a minimum of 4 volunteers per event. That way, there is a plan of how many people will be there to assist in meal prep and serve meals. The committee chairman or members monitor signup.com and recruit staffing for the serving and hosting of each serving.

Financial Committee

This committee and chairman oversee making sure that we have funds for meals for the month or any maintenance possibly needed for the truck.  This committee leads the development of the annual budget, analyzes the budgeted amount to the actual monthly spending, and reports to the board monthly.

 Fundraising Committee 

This committee and chairman oversee planning a yearly event (you can partner with a local organization) to help raise funds and spread the word about the mission. Expanding the Table will need at least 2 major fund-raising events annually and seeks support monthly for the Mason’s business meeting meal preparation and serving.