October 8, 2012
Dress Down Hunger Raises $115,000
What an incredible evening dedicated to hunger relief! On Saturday, September 29th over 300 hunger champions turned out for Dress Down Hunger in Food Lifeline's warehouse. Together we ate, drank and celebrated. Most important of all we raised over $115,000 for Food Lifeline, enough to provide more than 345,000 meals for hungry people in Western Washington.
The evening included a presentation of Food Lifeline’s Ending Hunger Award Winners, Food Lifeline’s opportunity to celebrate and honor companies, individuals and groups that have gone above and beyond their traditional role to support Food Lifeline’s mission to end hunger. We have been presenting our annual Ending Hunger Awards for 14 years and this year’s winners are listed below:
- Outstanding Food Donor: Skagit Valley’s Best Produce This award recognizes the outstanding generosity of an individual or business in the food industry that provides on-going in-kind and or financial support to Food Lifeline.
- Outstanding Corporate Donor: Panera Bread This award recognizes a foundation or corporation for its sustained record of leadership in financial giving to support Food Lifeline’s mission.
- Outstanding Volunteer Award: Barb Brasfield This award recognizes an individual, group or corporation who has demonstrated outstanding leadership in volunteerism and has made a long-term time commitment to support Food Lifeline’s mission.
- Raising Hunger Awareness Award: King County Council This award recognizes the individual or organization that has best conveyed Food Lifeline’s mission to the public.
- Tom Haley Memorial Award: Kathryn Sheehan This award recognizes an individual, group, corporation or foundation that deserves recognition for their contributions to the success of Food Lifeline’s mission.
A very memorable moment of the night was The Tom Haley Memorial Award. In its inaugural year this award honors past board member and ambassador for Food Lifeline, Tom Haley. For 13 years Mr. Haley served with his whole heart on the board, playing a vital role in building the financial health of Food Lifeline, working hard to build collaborative relationships and helping launch one of Food Lifeline’s programs, Produce for the People in 1996. In honor of Tom’s memory, Food Lifeline dedicates this award to Tom’s life and incredible contributions to end hunger in Western Washington. Paige Haley, Tom’s daughter was present at the event and present this award. She was very emotional and shared how much her father cared about the community and Food Lifeline. It was a highlight for many.
Huge thanks to the Dress Down Hunger sponsors:
The Boeing Company, Puget Sound Energy, Group Health Cooperative and Larry Hohm & Karen Shaw
Special thanks also to Seattle's top food trucks, Marination, BUNS Northwest and Street Treats and to by Kendall Jackson Wine Estates, Sozo Wine, Maritime Pacific Brewing Company and Hale’s Ales for providing beer and wine.