The refrigerated trailer to the left came on loan from FSA and will store hundreds of holiday turkeys until they can be distributed through the Foodbank network. To the right is the blown out unit it replaced.

It’s no exaggeration to say that things looked a little grim at The Idaho Foodbank. On Thursday, Nov. 10, there were 8,000 holiday turkeys in the process of arriving at the Boise warehouse, and the refrigeration unit in the 48-foot trailer that was scheduled to hold most of those birds had just blown up.

Fortunately, all it took was one phone call and the problem was solved. Michael Martin, the Foodbank’s Vice President of Operations, made that call to Branch President Mike Ruffner at Food Service of America in Meridian and told him the situation. Mike talked to Jeff Siebert, VP of Operations, and Curtis Gosselin, Delivery Manager. Within three hours there was a beautiful, inspected 48-foot refrigerated trailer backed up at the Foodbank’s dock.

The $230 charge for fuel and delivery and the $175-per-day rental were all zeroed out.

“We were in a tight spot,” Michael said. “We had planned all along to store the turkeys in our trailer until we could distribute them. There simply isn’t enough room in our freezer for all those turkeys. The folks at FSA really bailed us out.

“On behalf of all the families that will receive those turkeys this holiday season, we owe them a huge thank-you.”

Thanks, Mike, Jeff and Curtis. It certainly helps to have friends on the right places.

Dean Leachman

Adrienne Swain Smith

The Idaho Foodbank is proud to recognize two members of our Foodbank family who will be honored for their outstanding efforts to help feed their fellow Idahoans.

Dean Leachman has been nominated for a Governor’s Brightest Star award for his outstanding volunteer work at the Foodbank. The winners will be announced on Thursday, Nov. 10 at 3:30 p.m. in the Boise State University’s Student Union Building in the Simplot Ballroom.

Adrienne Swain Smith, the Foodbank’s Development Manager, has been named Outstanding Development Director by the Idaho chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals. The AFP will make the award at the 2011 National Philanthropy Day Idaho Awards breakfast on Tuesday, Nov. 15, at the Double Tree Riverside Hotel.

Dean has volunteered at the Foodbank for two years and in 2010 donated an amazing 784 hours. At first, his duties consisted primarily of helping to unload food donations and loading partners’ food orders. But in short order, Dean’s talents and reliability asserted themselves. He became a lead volunteer with the food-sorting groups, began to drive Foodbank trucks to pick up and deliver produce donations, deliver refills to local schools for the Backpack Program and generally fill in where ever he is needed. Thanks to his suggestion, the Foodbank launched a warehouse safety program.

Dean is the last person to talk about himself, but the warehouse staff considers him a co-worker. That is high praise.

Use this link for more information about the Governor’s Brightest Star award.

Adrienne began her career working for Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah, and then became executive director of Utah Families Foundation, the senator’s nonprofit, which raises millions of dollars annually for children’s charities.

Since then she has been executive director of the Caring Foundation for Children of Utah and Idaho, a non-profit arm of Regence Blue Shield of Idaho and BlueCross/Blue Shield of Utah; senior account executive for non-profit clients at Hayes & Associates in Washington, D.C.; Deputy Director for Development and Communications of the Northern Virginia Family Service; and founder of Mission Critical Events, a Boise company that did fundraising and event-planning for nonprofits.

Adrienne joined the Foodbank in 2009, and has raised more than $1 million to provide hunger relief in Idaho.

This recognition is truly deserved, and all of us at the Foodbank are grateful for the valuable service they represent.

For more information about the APF awards, click here.