2018 Partner Appreciation Day
We had the honor of recognizing the people and organizations who bring vital support to The Greater Boston Food Bank (GBFB) at our annual Partner Appreciation Day on October 26. Each year, we celebrate these difference-makers with an awards ceremony at our facility.
We work with 500+ hunger-relief agencies, thousands of volunteers, financial donors, food donors, government officials and others. We rely on this network to support the 1 in 11 people in Eastern Massachusetts who is need of food.
Thank you and congratulations to this year’s award winners; and thank you to those that helped us this year – and every year. We are in it to end it, but we can’t do it alone!
Founders Award: Boston Scientific
Supporting GBFB since 2006, Boston Scientific sponsors events, volunteered nearly 700 hours, donated over $350,000 – enough to provide over 1 million healthy meals.
President’s Choice Award: VDA Productions
VDA has gone above and beyond in a unique way. VDA has donated over $400,000 of goods and services over the past 5 years, including transforming our warehouse into a unique event for our biggest fundraiser of the year–Festival.
In-Kind Donor Award: Designer’s Choice
Designer’s Choice demonstrates philanthropy through donation of $10,000 in fresh floral arrangements for many events over the past 5 years, including the beautiful arrangements for Partner Appreciation Day!
Community Partner Award: Open Pantry of Lowell
Open Pantry of Greater Lowell serves an average of 1,800 per month! Open Pantry repeatedly exceeds expectations in food distribution, and has answered the call every time we need a distribution partner for our programs in the Greater Lowell area.
Food Donor of the Year: Big Y
Over the past 3 years, Big Y has donated over 865,000 pounds of healthy food to GBFB; 10 Big Y stores provide food directly to 31 agencies through our Retail Donation Program. They also donated $10,000 to our “Spring for Meals” campaign.
Institutional Volunteer of the Year: Santander Bank
Santander Bank has volunteered since 2014 – over 1,000 hours sorting nearly 250,000 pounds of food. They also donated $15,000 to Festival.
Individual Volunteer of the Year: Marlon Gray
Marlon volunteers twice a WEEK on our shipping docs. Since he knows so much, he helps teach other volunteers! When he is not here, Marlon is a chef and teaches healthy cooking classes to local kids by showing them how to make meals with what they already have in their refrigerators and cabinets. Read more on Marlon >
Public Advocates of the Year: Senate President Karen Spilka and Representative Jeffrey Sanchez
Senate President Karen Spilka supports MEFAP and helped in passing Breakfast After the Bell in the Senate. Rep. Sanchez’s work lifted MEFAP funding to $18 million – enabling the state’s food banks to purchase enough for 23 million healthy meals this year.
View more photos on our Facebook page >
Congratulations to the award recipients!
