The Greater Augusta Regional Chamber of Commerce announced Wednesday that Gov. Bob McDonnell will be the keynote speaker at the Celebration Reception being held at McKee Foods in Stuarts Draft on Monday, Dec. 9, 2013 from 1:45-3:15 p.m., in recognition of the Chamber’s achievement of winning the Governor’s Bowl Food & Fund Challenge for the second year in a row.
The governor will also be recognizing McKee Foods for their economic development and community involvement. Sponsored by John Huggins of Shenandoah Concerts will be a special performance by the Virginia School for Deaf & Blind Student Bluegrass Band, which will be debuting their new instruments.
“On behalf of the Commonwealth, please pass along my sincere gratitude to your entire team and your community partners,” McDonnell wrote in a letter to the Chamber. “Countless families that are served by the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank will be the beneficiaries of your generosity. I am inspired and humbled by your efforts. And I know that families touched by your generosity are grateful for your time, energy, and dedication.”
The Greater Augusta Chamber clinched the win this year thanks in large part to a $10,000 challenge gift from McKee Foods, the Stuarts Draft-based maker of Little Debbie snack foods.
“Couple that (gift) with the involvement of the chamber members and you have a winning combination that truly cares about the well-being of the families in our community,” GARCC President & CEO Linda Hershey said.
Randy Smith, vice president and plant manager at McKee Foods, said: “We were honored to play a supporting role in winning the Governor’s Bowl title again this year. While it is rewarding to win such an award, the most gratifying outcome is that neighbors and friends in our community will benefit from the generosity of so many kind and unselfish businesses and community members.”
Hershey said that chamber member businesses donated 115,528 total pounds of food to the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank, a 10 percent increase from last year. Recognition plaques will be presented to participating chamber members at the Dec. 9 event. More than 100 chambers across the Commonwealth and more than 60 state government agencies participated in the five-week competition that began on Memorial Day and ended on Independence Day. The 2013 competition raised the equivalent of more than 400,000 pounds of food to benefit over 1 million individuals served by Virginia Food banks.
Summertime is typically when the food banks are low on food and demand is highest, so the competition helps fill the gap. It is coordinated by the Federation of Virginia Food Banks and based upon the successful Legal Food Frenzy campaign that began in 2007 by the then-Attorney General McDonnell.
As the overall winners of the annual event, the chamber received their handcrafted ceramic bowl at a recent presentation in Richmond at the headquarters of the Virginia Chamber of Commerce. The bowl is a one-of-a-kind ceramic piece created by potters Rick Erickson and Kendra Spicer of Farmville.
In 2012, the Greater Augusta Chamber won the first annual Governor’s Bowl by raising 106,015 pounds. A $10,000 challenge gift from SunTrust Bank jumpstarted their success.
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