Welcome Deborah Peeples: New Chief Development Officer

We are thrilled to announce that Deborah Peeples will join the Food & Friends staff on September 1st as our new Chief Development Officer. Deborah will be an important leader of our development team and instrumental in helping to build greater capacity to meet the growing demand for Food & Friends in our community.

Deborah is a results-oriented, creative fundraiser with a proven record helping nonprofit organizations transform their fundraising programs and increase revenue. Deborah has helped national, regional and local nonprofit organizations with capital campaigns, development assessments, annual fund planning, and Board development. In 2008, Deborah was selected as the Outstanding Fund Raising Professional of the Year by the Association of Fundraising Professionals Metro DC chapter.

Deborah is a Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE). She earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology/English at the University of Florida, Gainesville, and her Masters of Arts in Student Personnel Services also at the University of Florida. Deborah was the Vice President, Philanthropy at the Humane Society of the United States, the Executive Director of Iona, a Washington, D.C. non-profit agency serving seniors; President of the Capital Hospice Foundation in Falls Church, and Director of Major and Planned Giving at WETA TV/FM. Additionally, Deborah has experience as an independent fundraising consultant. Deborah is active nationally in advancing the field of development through conference leadership and other professional engagements.

Kenni Delivers: Driving 700 Miles a Week to Serve Our Neighbors in Need

For many, the commute is the worst part of any day. Sitting in traffic for hours on a drive that should only take 30 minutes, all while hoping a good song comes on the radio. Now, imagine spending your entire day in the car, driving all around the city. To some this is a nightmare, but at Food & Friends it’s what our delivery drivers do, Monday thru Saturday, 52 weeks a year.

Kenni Wall, our Delivery Coordinator, has done this for almost 10 years and is just as passionate about his work today as he was on his first day. In fact, Kenni was just honored by the Delivery Department with the Safety, Efficiency & Teamwork Award (SET).

This award is given twice a year to a member of the delivery staff who exemplifies a commitment to safety on the road, works effectively and efficiently, and is an outstanding member of the Food & Friends team. Kenni repeatedly goes above and beyond in his work by volunteering to help with fundraising events after a long day on the road, obeying traffic laws, and picking up extra delivery stops to ensure new clients start receiving meals right away.

Five days a week, Kenni drives more than 700 miles throughout DC, MD, and VA delivering meals to the most vulnerable members of our community. He brings meals to people who are going through chemotherapy and are too weak to prepare meals for themselves and their loved ones, and to people who are experiencing side effects from their HIV medications. It is not an easy task spending this much time alone on the road and witnessing, first-hand, the struggles that our clients endure. But for Kenni, it’s the clients that keep him motivated.

“When you know someone [needs the food], appreciates it, and is happy to see you, that is what keeps me motivated,” said Kenni.

Kenni has seen a lot and has positively impacted the lives of many in our community. A memory that stands out to him is from this last winter. It was a harsh, cold winter and our clients were hit harder than many in the community. One day, along with the meals, Kenni was delivering donated poinsettias.

“I remember delivering to a client who lives in Calvert County, Maryland. When I arrived with the flowers she started crying – she loves having fresh flowers in her home and appreciated the gesture,” says Kenni.

Our clients connect with our drivers as much as our drivers connect with the clients. We receive calls from clients everyday just to say how much they love our delivery drivers. What makes our drivers so special? Compassion.

“You need compassion to look someone in the eye, know they are hurting, and ask ‘how are you feeling?’ and to spare a few minutes of your time to speak with them. That takes compassion and our delivery drivers have that,” said Kenni.

There is no denying that days at Food & Friends can be tough – there are a lot of people who need our help and conditions are not always on our side. Between inclement weather, extreme heat, road closings, and heavy traffic there are a lot of obstacles that can stand in the way of our drivers making successful deliveries. But our staff has a rapport that helps make the tough days a little easier.

“Coming in every morning, seeing everyone laughing and joking is my favorite part about working at Food & Friends. When you come in you know that you are going to have a hard day to tackle and connecting with everyone before heading out on to the road prepares you to tackle those challenges,” said Kenni.

Kenni takes great pride in the work he does every day for Food & Friends. Kenni was raised learning that if you can do anything to help someone less fortunate than yourself you are obligated to do so. This is evident in his tremendous work ethic and good spirit. We are happy to have him as part of the Food & Friends family and we know our clients feel the same way.

CONTRIBUTED BY: Brandon Nichols, Community Relations Associate

I Remember...and I Look Forward

I'd like to take a moment today to honor the memory of the many thousands of partners/husbands/wives, brothers/sisters, fathers/mothers, friends and colleagues that have perished from AIDS and to remember those who cared for them. As I reflect on this horrific disease, the opening song from "RENT", Season's Of Love, comes to mind...

George (right) and his friend Brad
who passed away from AIDS.

Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes,
Five hundred twenty-five thousand moments so dear.
Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes...

...How do you measure the life
Of a woman or a man?
In truths that she learned,
Or in times that he cried.
In bridges he burned,
Or the way that she died.
It's time now to sing out,
Tho' the story never ends
Let's celebrate...Remember a year in the life of friends

I recall a time when a diagnosis was a certain death sentence - when an individual diagnosed with AIDS wouldn't see another five hundred twenty-five thousand, six hundred minutes.  I recall public concern over how the virus was transmitted and the stigma attached to the words "GRID", "AID", "AIDS", leaving those afflicted to feel like outcasts, often turned away by family and friends and often left jobless and homeless.  I recall visiting friends in the hospital, required to wear face masks and paper gowns...I remember...and I look forward.

For me, hundreds of thousands of minutes have passed since the disease was first identified to the general public in 1982.  And as I try to forget the pain and suffering of my dear friends, I see minutes of hope and promise where there once were none.  Minutes of pain and loneliness - turned to minutes of hope with the advent of AZT and then DDI, then to the triumphs of protease inhibitors that prolonged life, and now the discovery and combination of entry inhibitors and integrase inhibitors or "ARTs " (anti-retroviral therapies) - that have made HIV/AIDS more manageable and no longer an automatic death sentence.

I've had the honor to know many of those who have passed before us as a result of this terrible illness, and I know that each one of those people would be proud of the continued work that we do here at Food & Friends.

You may not recall the first CDC announcement in June 1982  - http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/00001114.htm - but, as supporters of Food & Friends, you truly provide the love and support that so many have cherished along this journey...in response to a terrible illness that continues to afflict so many.

How have you been affected by HIV/AIDS? What does World AIDS Day mean to you? Share your story with us by commenting on this blog or by posting on our Facebook wall.

Photo courtesy of
David Kelly Crow
davidkellycrow.com

George A. Bednar, CPA, Deputy Executive Director, Finance & Administration

As Deputy Executive Director, George has oversight of the organization’s finance, human resources and facilities management activities. George holds a BA in accounting from Washington and Jefferson College and is a Certified Public Accountant.  He lives in Washington, DC, with his partner, Chip Wheeler.