Food drive founder wins national honor
The Golden Harvest Food Bank can add $11,000 to the It's Spooky to Be Hungry take this year.
Evelyn Browne, director of It's Spooky to be Hungry, coordinates the activities of the organization from her home office.
Photo by Jim Blaylock
Spooky organizer Evelyn Browne was recently named the national winner of The Dannon Company's Families Feeding America. The company will give $10,000 to Golden Harvest in Browne's name and another $1,000 to Browne for grocery shopping. She plans to give that money to Golden Harvest too.
"Although I won the award personally, it really represents the incredibly wonderful volunteers that make up Spooky," Browne said. "It's because of those volunteers that Spooky has been the success that it is."
Browne started It's Spooky to Be Hungry in three Columbia County neighborhoods eight years ago. Since then, the Halloween-themed food drive has expanded throughout Richmond, Columbia and Aiken counties to Greenwood, Columbia and Summerville, S.C.
Last year, volunteers gathered more than 35,000 pounds of food and raised $18,000 to benefit Golden Harvest Food Bank. That's money that goes a long way, she said.
Because of the purchasing power of Golden Harvest, a dollar that we would spend in the grocery store is like spending $7 in the grocery store to them, Browne said.
Dannon's contest - part of the company's 60th anniversary - recognizes people who donate their time to helping the hungry. The company asked entrants to submit a 500-word essay and officials chose one grand-prize winner and four runners-ups.
"I was so honored and thrilled to receive this because the $10,000 I can give Golden Harvest is just so wonderful," she said. "It's amazing that Dannon would make these kinds of funds available to recognize people who are just doing what they think is right, which is to try to work to help feed the hungry."
BOX: It's Spooky To Be Hungry, the all volunteer neighborhood-based food drive benefiting Golden Harvest Food Bank will take place Saturday. Volunteers participating in It's Spooky To Be Hungry will also be part of the national Make A Difference Day effort. For information, please call 863-5863.