12th Annual Golden Fork Awards
Look behind the scenes at the North Texas Food Bank and discover the heart of our community. You’ll see individuals, foundation and corporate friends and a vast feeding network of more than 200 Partner Agencies, joined together with Food Bank staff members to provide food assistance to our neighbors in need. Unified by the belief that no one deserves to be hungry, this army of hunger fighters is nourishing North Texas and proving that together, our community can overcome hunger.
Recently, the Food Bank honored top volunteers at the 12th annual Golden Fork Award ceremony. These awards are presented each year to supporters and volunteers who have exemplified commitment and dedication to hunger relief in North Texas. Past recipients have included Chef Kent Rathbun, the Dallas Theater Center, Plano Mayor Harry LaRosiliere, Toyota and the Hillcrest Foundation.
The following were honored at a special ceremony on Thursday, October 24 at the Food Bank’s distribution center, the Perot Family Campus:
Corporation of the Year: H‑E‑B
A true Texas institution, H‑E‑B has provided more than groceries to the Lone Star State throughout its tenure, and hunger relief has been a key focus since day one. For more than a century, H-E-B’s commitment and involvement in the communities it serves has been an important part of the way the company does business. As a NTFB Food Industry Partner, H‑E‑B has supported many food bank initiatives throughout the years. From ongoing food donations, to including regular reclamation loads, peanut butter for our Collin County Peanut Butter Drive and a full truckload of cereal in honor of Hunger Action Month, H‑E‑B has provided invaluable support to our critical work feeding our North Texas neighbors. Over the years, H-E-B has donated more than 32 million pounds of food to Texas and Mexico food banks, equal to more than 25 million meals.
Hunger Ambassadors of the Year: Catie Enrico and Pollock/Orora
Catie Enrico
Serving her community has long been a priority to Catie Enrico, Vice President of the Enrico Foundation, which honors the legacy of her recently deceased father-in-law Roger Enrico and his wife Rosemary. When she joined the Food Bank as chair of the annual Letter Writing Campaign in 2017, she set her sights on providing more healthy meals to children in need. As chair, Catie fearlessly led this campaign for two years, and under her tenure, the Letter Writing Campaign thrived! In her first year as chair – the campaign not only met its annual goal but exceeded it – a more than 69 percent increase from the previous year. Because of her leadership, the Letter Writing Campaign is positioned for continued success, and Catie helped advance awareness regarding the need for more nutritious foods for our North Texas children.
Pollock/Orora
For more than 100 years, the Pollock name has been a staple in our North Texas community, creating solutions for everyday business needs. It will come as no surprise that the Pollock family, the Pollock/Orora company and its employees are all passionate about solving an everyday issue that impacts our community – hunger. Pollock joined the Food Bank in our fight against hunger in 2006, and made critical investments of their time, resources and financial contributions – all toward advancing the future of hunger relief work in a way that only Pollock can do. Their strategic investment established our southern hub that is now known as The Pollock Campus at Cockrell Hill Road. This year, Pollock/Orora went above and beyond in their commitment to close the hunger gap. From Food Bank event sponsorships, providing trucks and other resources to help us make our move to this new facility, volunteering at the Perot Family Campus and at various Partner Agencies and holding an employee giving campaign that resulted in record support, Pollock truly is a hunger ambassador in every possible way.
Tom Black Volunteer of the Year: Dave Arrington
Dave is a servant leader who is often found behind-the-scenes at major NTFB happenings, often doing the least desirable work – moving supplies or sorting through surplus. And, he does it without being asked. He just knows what must be done and steps in. Dave made it a top priority to welcome volunteers to the new Perot Family Campus and led the way alongside staff in developing NTFB’s “Kernel” Program, designed to develop new volunteer leaders. His heart shines through his hands and his unwavering commitment to serving neighbors in need demonstrates his generous spirit.
Retail Partner of the Year: HelloFresh
HelloFresh, the leading global meal kit provider, was founded on the belief that everyone should have access to the best ingredients and knowledge on how to cook them. For the past four years, through weekly in-store pick-ups, HelloFresh has provided NTFB with fresh produce and other nutritious foods for food-insecure neighbors in North Texas. Even with their explosive growth, providing nutritious foods to neighbors in need remains a top priority. Since establishing the partnership, HelloFresh has provided nearly 3.5 million pounds of food to help feed hungry North Texans.
Lifetime Achievement Award: Lyda Hill
Lyda Hill has shown transformational support for NTFB’s work in closing the hunger gap. The Foundation generously supported NTFB’s capital campaign, and most recently, made an investment in the purchase of a warehouse management system to help ensure NTFB has the critical infrastructure in place to continue providing nutritious food in North Texas as long as needed. In 2015, the Foundation partnered with NTFB and Feeding Texas to research the utilization of secondary market fruits and vegetables produced in Texas. The study found that in Texas alone, food banks capture 1/5 of the more than 350 million pounds of available secondary market fruits and vegetables. This discovery led to the creation of the Collaborative for Fresh Produce, a co-op that helps with produce distribution to food banks throughout the state.
Jan Pruitt Legacy Award: Teresa Jackson, Sharing Life Community Outreach
This award honors NTFB’s late CEO Jan Pruitt, who had a passion for helping her neighbors in need. The award was created in her memory three years ago.
In 1992, Teresa was a single mother of three boys and needed help. She sought assistance from her local food pantry and was met with people who made her feel helpless and ashamed. She found her calling in this life experience. In 1999, she founded Sharing Life Community Outreach in Mesquite, a Food Bank Partner Agency now considered a well-respected non-profit organization that helps meet the needs of food-insecure North Texans. Sharing Life operates a client choice food pantry, provides rental and utility assistance, financial empowerment training, gently used clothing and medical equipment in a loving and compassionate environment. In 2016, Sharing Life became an official Food Bank hub, operating like a mini Food Bank and distributing food from NTFB to 60 food pantries.
Our work at the North Texas Food Bank providing nutritious food to our neighbors in need would not be possible without the selfless, hard work from these compassionate individuals and organizations.
To learn more about how you can support the Food Bank and join our army of hunger fighters, visit ntfb.org.
To view all photos from the event, click here.