On Thursday, October 22nd, Bread for the City celebrated the contributions of our volunteers at the annual Good Hope Awards! For those who were not able to join us, we wanted to share more about the extraordinary volunteers who were honored this year.
We thank our honorees and all of our volunteers at Bread for the City for their gifts of time and talent!
HONOREE: Terri Acker, Advocacy & Community Engagement Volunteer: Terri Acker continues to be one of the strongest client advocates that we have at Bread. From her leadership on the Client Advisory Council (where she serves as vice-president), to organizing in her community to bring about change, Terri is exactly the sort of strong person we think of when we talk about client leadership here at Bread for the City. She consistently goes above-and-beyond what is asked of her, and does not hesitate to volunteer her time whenever she can–including being one of two clients serving on our Racial Equity Action Planning team, serving as an interviewer for BFC staff positions and facilitating listening sessions that will serve as the foundation of our housing advocacy campaign. – Aja Taylor
Awardee Terri Acker (left) and BFC’s Aja Taylor
HONOREE: Cathy Kello, Development & In-Kind Volunteer: Cathy Kello is our fairy godmother of office supplies. Anytime she sees an ad for a sale at an office supply store, she calls me up and asks what we need. Not only does she save us thousands of dollars annually on our own supplies, but she gifts us with dozens of backpacks full of school supplies for us to raffle off to our clients at the beginning of the school year. She considers our needs as an organization, but more importantly, she thinks of the people we serve first and foremost. As a long-time volunteer in our legal clinic, medical clinic, and development department, she’s always looking to lend her support. Every organization should be lucky enough to have a Cathy on their side. – Emily Torruellas
Awardee Cathy Kello (left) and BFC’s Emily Torruellas
HONOREE: Ms. Morgan, SE Social Services Volunteer: Ms. Morgan is a warm spirited individual; her smile will light up the room. She is always willing to help people. She says, “Anything to help, and I will do it.” She is very determined, even when she is in pain, she pushes herself. Her determination is admirable and contagious.
Ms. Morgan has overcome many obstacles in her life. Through hard work, she has achieved many goals and continues to set new ones. I admire her bravery and tenacity. She is very dependable and reliable. Ms. Morgan is a valuable resource to the community and to Bread for the City’s Women Strong DC program. She brings great ideas and is always encouraging new participants to come to Bread for the City. – Melissa Palms
Awardee Ms. Morgan (right) and BFC’s Melissa Palms
HONOREE: Venable LLP, Legal Clinic Partner: The law firm of Venable LLP, through their commitment to increasing access to justice, helped found Bread for the City’s legal clinic 25 years ago. Venable took a further step this year and launched the Gerry Treanor Pro Bono Fellowship. Bread for the City was honored to be the first host organization for the Venable Pro Bono Fellow. Through this fellowship, a Venable attorney volunteers full-time with our Legal Clinic for a 6-month period. The Venable Pro Bono Fellows have worked alongside our dedicated housing attorneys to assist tenants in protecting their right to safe, affordable housing. Bread for the City is grateful to Venable and the Venable Pro Bono Fellows for their support. – Su Sie Ju
Awardees from the Venable Legal team (left) and BFC’s Su Sie Ju
HONOREE: Gloria Abney & Hilda Dozier, Wellness Volunteers: As part of our medical home, we talk a lot about being healthy. Good health means everything, from good blood pressure to good energy to do the things you want to do – just generally feeling good. We are always looking for new ways to improve the health of our community. And Gloria and Hilda make that happen every Monday at 11 am.
With crochet needles and yarn, a few chairs and a table, people begin to gather. They learn new skills, make new friends, and make amazing hats, scarves, socks, and more. Their welcoming spirit is the driver of this. Around the table you will find men and women, old and young, and many languages spoken. But everyone is busy and smiling and proud of what they have accomplished.
So thank you Gloria and Hilda for bringing your good energy and talents to the Bread community. – Dr. Randi Abramson
Awardees Gloria Abney & Hilda Dozier (left and right) and BFC’s Dr. Randi (middle)
HONOREE: Randolph Greene, SE Food Program Volunteer: Mr. Greene was chosen for the SE Food Program volunteer award because of his hard work and dedication. Mr. Greene has been volunteering in the food pantry for almost five years now, and he’s very consistent. Not only is he a people person, he’s reliable, trustworthy, honest and he gets the job done in a timely manner. We in the SE Food Department are grateful to have Mr. Greene here as a volunteer. – Keith Lemons
Awardee Randolph Green (right) and BFC’s Keith Lemons
HONOREE: Andres Urbina, NW Food Pantry Volunteer: Andres is definitely one of the greatest volunteers our food pantry has ever had! He’s such a sweetheart and you can see just how much joy it brings him to be able to give back to the community. We really enjoy Andres’ presence and appreciate his hard work and dedication. I think I speak for everyone when I say we are very fortunate to have Andres volunteering at Bread for the City. – Jennifer Castaneda
Awardee Andres Urbina (left) and BFC’s Ms. Jeanette
HONOREE: Henry Maury, NW Social Services Volunteer: Henry Maury started volunteering with Rep Payee in October 2013. At that time, we desperately needed to catch up on an urgent administrative project that had fallen through the cracks. Henry jumped in feet first spending four hours a week crunching numbers and churning out reports to help us not only clear the backlog, but complete the current reports as well. He is reliable, great to talk to and always has a smile on his face. We are grateful for his help and don’t know what we would do without him. – Susanne Horn
Awardee Henry Maury (left) and BFC’s Susanne Horn
HONOREE: Regina Jackson, Clothing Program Volunteer: Regina Jackson was chosen for the SE Clothing Room Good Hope Award because of her willingness to help. She shows up to her shifts every week with a wonderful spirit and ready to work. Ms. Jackson has the attributes of a great volunteer and anyone would be excited to have her on their team. – Charity Barr
HONOREE: Perkins Coie, Corporate Partner: We are pleased to recognize Perkins Coie LLP as our Corporate Partner of the Year. With Bread, Inc. Board Member Don Friedman leading the charge, Perkins Coie has grown to be an indispensable supporter of our work and mission. In addition to the firm’s financial contributions through our Corporate Partnerships Program, the staff rallies together each holiday season in support of BFC–during last year’s Holiday Helpings campaign, the staff and attorneys of Perkins Coie raised a whopping $20,000 to help us provide holiday meals for our clients. Additionally, the firm has served as a generous host of BFC’s meetings and events, including our staff holiday party. We’re so grateful to the Perkins Coie team for staying late into the evening so that we could enjoy our celebration. Thank you, Perkins Coie! – Amanda Nover
Perkins Coie legal partners
