Each year at the annual Spring for Food Awards Dinner, Second Harvest grants volunteers, sponsors, donors and supporters awards. These awards aim to give deep appreciation and recognition to Second Harvest friends that truly go above and beyond in the fight to end hunger. Due to the ongoing pandemic, the 2021 Spring for Food did not occur in person. Awards were mailed to winners to ensure that even if food bankers and award winners could not gather together, they were still recognized.
The most highly coveted award is the Murray R. Petersen Award. This award is given to a person or group who has taken Second Harvest Food Bank to the highest level of recognition in the community. It is named after Murray R. Petersen, one of the founders of Second Harvest Food Bank of East Tennessee in 1982. His compassion to feed East Tennesseans facing hunger was exemplary.
This year Second Harvest could not miss the opportunity to grant this award to a group that most heavily impacted the food bank in 2020. This year’s Murray R. Petersen award goes to… ALL of EAST TENN. supporters!
“Second Harvest is incredibly grateful for the outstanding supporting of this community over the past 13 months. It is no surprise that the pandemic changed everything about how we operate overnight,” said Elaine Streno, executive director. “Without generous supporters, Second Harvest would not be able to provide security, meals and hope to children, families and seniors facing hunger. Without the support of this community, every meal passed out this past year would not have been possible.”
Other award winners for Spring for Food include:
- Friend of the Year – Andy Jeffers, Sports & Entertainment Media
- Volunteer of the Year – Wanda Davis
- Allegiance Award – UCOR
- Advocacy Award – Tyler Roy, The Vol Piper
- Innovation Award – David Ecklund, University of Tennessee Supply Chain Partnership
- Partner of the Year – Blue Cross Blue Shield of Tennessee
Thanks to the incredible support of the East Tennessee community from March 1, 2020-March 1, 2021, Second Harvest:
- Served an additional 1,437 children through Summer Food For Kids (compared to summer 2019)
- Distributed more than four million pounds of fresh produce
- Fed families and seniors for two weeks with more than 12,000 Emergency Food Boxes
- Fed an additional 242 seniors in 10 counties (compared to March 1, 2019-March 1, 2020)
