Thanks
to you, Harvest for Hunger 2019 will help provide more than 22 million meals.
The 28th Annual Harvest for Hunger campaign
was a success! The Northeast Ohio community came together
to make possible a record-breaking 22,164,389 meals. To everyone who volunteered,
collected food and funds, and supported Harvest for Hunger - thank you! We held our annual Recognition Breakfast this morning to celebrate all of the hard work that made this campaign a success. Visit our Facebook and Twitter pages to view photos and posts from the celebration.
Thank you, Paul Clark!
For the past two years, Paul Clark has served as Co-Chair
of the Harvest for Hunger campaign.
Paul, who recently retired as Regional President of PNC, provided
tremendous support and commitment to this year’s campaign and his leadership inspired
all of us.
Rick Chiricosta, President & CEO, Medical Mutual,
joined with Paul this year as co-chair of the campaign. We are so grateful that Rick will be joining
us again as co-chair for Harvest for Hunger 2020! Together, Paul and Rick were the dynamic duo
and inspired the community to give more than 22 million meals this past year.
In honor of Paul’s service to the campaign over the last two years, the Food Bank
planted a plum tree in his honor at Garden Valley, one of our partner
programs. Paul’s passion for our mission
will continue as the tree blossoms each year and provides sweet and delicious
plums. And, Rick Chiricosta and his wife, Sheila, made a generous gift of $10,000 to the Food Bank in honor of Paul and his leadership in the community. The gift will be matched by Medical Mutual to help provide 80,000 meals and kickstart the 2020 Harvest for Hunger Campaign!
Harvest for Hunger Recognition Breakfast Honorees
At our Recognition Breakfast this morning, we presented five different awards honoring Harvest for Hunger participants.Take a look at the winners:
The Bag of Hope Award was presented to the City of Cleveland. The city's 8,000 employees came together to raise $112,000 this year through multiple events across departments including employee payroll deduction, a city-wide basket raffle, dress down days and bake sales. This is an organization that has participated in Harvest for Hunger since its inception. Thank you to Mayor Frank G. Jackson for his involvement, the leadership of the City Chief Operating Officer, Darnell Brown, who is also on the Food Bank's Board and is co-chair of our External Affairs Committee, and coordinators, Loretta Joyce and Cassandra Moore.
|
|
|
The Edmund V. Worley Award was presented to McCarthy, Lebit, Crystal & Liffman LPA. This year, through the participation of 50 employees and various drives, they raised more than $5,000 to help fight hunger!
|
The Rory Borgio Award was presented to the Birchwood School of Hawken. Every student at the school participated to raise more than $3,000 and 752 food items to support Harvest for Hunger. Beyond raising both food and funds, students spent time learning about hunger through their Creative Problem Solving curriculum.
|
|
|
The Student Leadership Award was presented to Olivia Andrews from Hilliard Elementary School. Olivia went above and beyond during her school's Harvest for Hunger drive by placing donation boxes around the community and encouraging her fellow students to support the campaign. In all, Hilliard Elementary raised nearly $1,700 and 2,000 pounds of food!
|
|
The Student Leadership Award was also presented to Joshua Rossen from University Middle School. Josh spearheaded a fundraiser after he discovered the Harvest for Hunger campaign in his online research. After researching the campaign further, Josh made a presentation to the middle school students and included statistics to reveal how prevalent hunger is in our communities. He encouraged his classmates to help fight hunger by raising funds - more than $500! The Food Bank received this note from Josh: “I hope that this donation could help make a difference for people in need. It is amazing what the Greater Cleveland Food Bank does for people.”
|
|
To learn more about the awards presented at the Harvest for Hunger Recognition Ceremony, please visit our website.
This morning, we also recognized the hundreds of companies and individuals who helped support the campaign. For a complete list of participating companies, please see our ad that will run in the Plain Dealer this weekend.
Fight Hunger All Year
While Harvest for Hunger has come to an end, the need in our service area continues to grow. You can help support Harvest for Hunger all year by becoming a monthly donor today. When every dollar helps provide four nutritious meals, you know you're having an impact.
Click here to become a monthly donor.
|
