Safeco Insurance has named Helen McGovern a Community Hero for her work with the Emergency Food Network of Pierce County and Tacoma, which will receive a $5,000 donation from Safeco on behalf of McGovern and the McKendry Insurance, Tacoma, Wash.
McGovern was nominated for the Safeco Community Hero award by Kim McKendry, president, of McKendry Insurance.
Each year Safeco celebrates local heroes who make a positive difference through its Agent Giving Program that’s designed to focus on three areas: education, health and safety, and civic engagement.
“Safeco applauds community heroes, like Helen, who share their gifts for giving and action,” said Brenda Mann Harrison, manager, Safeco Insurance Agent Giving Program. “We also thank McKendry Insurance for nominating Helen and its commitment to community involvement.”
McGovern serves as executive director of the Emergency Food Network (EFN) ofPierceCountyandTacoma, based inLakewood,Washington. She has revamped its distribution systems in response to the economy and helped several of the area’s hunger relief agencies network into the Pierce County Food Coalition. McGovern also has improved government advocacy and created strong ties with wholesale food distributors.
Each month, EFN feeds more than 140,000 residents ofPierceCountyand serves 67 food programs. The organization distributed more than 14 million pounds of food to food banks, meal sites and shelters last year. One of the EFN projects that McGovern oversees is its organic vegetable farm. The farm produces 150,000 pounds of vegetables each year, and inmates at Purdy Women’s Prison earn college credits in organic farming by working at the site. EFN also partners in running “The Gleaning Project,” which builds relationships with residential and commercial owners of fruit trees, who donate their fresh fruit.
“The best part about what I am doing is knowing that the people we feed have more access to nutritious food than they did just two years ago,” McGovern says.
Help a community hero do more
You can help McGovern do more for the Emergency Food Network by voting for her in the “Vote for your favorite Safeco Community Hero” online event. The charity supported by the Safeco Community Hero receiving the most votes will get an additional $5,000 check from Safeco Insurance!
You can vote once per day until the contest ends 11 p.m. PDT, Aug. 29. You may vote only if you are age 13 or older.
About Safeco Insurance
In business since 1923 and based in Seattle, Washington, Safeco sells insurance to drivers and homeowners through a network of independent agents and brokers in eight regions throughout the United States.
Safeco is part of Liberty Mutual Agency Corporation, a strategic business unit of Liberty Mutual Group, consisting of property and casualty and specialty insurance carriers that distribute their products and services primarily through independent agents and brokers. Liberty Mutual Group ranks 82nd on the Fortune 100 list of the largestU.S. corporations based on 2010 revenue. The company has financial strength ratings of A (Excellent) from the A.M. Best Company, A2 (Good) from Moody’s Investors Service, and A- (Strong) from Standard & Poor’s.
For more information about Safeco Insurance, go to www.Safeco.com.
For more information about the Safeco Insurance Agent Giving Program, go to www.SafecoGives.com.
For more information about Emergency Food Network, go to www.efoodnet.org.