Harry K Foundation honored at Annual Dinner

April 27, 2015

Donor of the Year: Harry K Foundation

Donor of the Year: Harry K Foundation

By Gwen Guerke, Communications Coordinator

The Harry K Foundation was honored as Donor of the Year at our annual dinner held at the Milford branch on April 16.

Harry Keswani of Rehoboth Beach started this foundation in 2013 when he pledged to eliminate childhood hunger in Sussex County.

The Foundation started supporting the Food Bank of Delaware through an inaugural 2013 Christmas Ball, a black-tie event at the Rehoboth Beach Country Club; 100 percent of the proceeds was donated to the Foundation’s mission.

In its first year, that Christmas Ball was a sell-out success, raising enough money to provide more than 100 children in Sussex Country with a backpack full of food for the entire school year, and also to open nine new school pantries in Sussex County.

It costs $158 to provide a child with weekend food for one year. These backpacks are distributed through the schools before weekends and school holidays; each school site coordinator creates a discreet way to get the backpacks to children enrolled in the program.

During the 2013-14 school year, 4,692 children received backpacks through 125 sites statewide.

Since the first Christmas Ball was so successful, naturally there was another one. Thanks to the proceeds from the 2014 gala, the Food Bank of Delaware will be able to open an additional 10 school pantries and double the number of backpacks distributed to Sussex County children.

“Hunger is all around us, and it is our civic responsibility to feed our people,” Keswani said.

The Food Bank of Delaware and the people we serve thank the Harry K Foundation and the Keswani family for their commitment to our vision of a community free of hunger.

For more information on how to support the Food Bank of Delaware or the Backpack Program, click here!

 

 

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