The Society of Saint Andrew, Inc.

Retired Coast Guard officer with 20 years extensive experience in Command positions as well as operational and fiscal management. A volunteer with SoSA for 6 years before coming on staff in 1994. Since 1996 he has served as the Chief Operating Officer with responsibility for all day-to-day operations and was promoted to Executive Director in 2008

Society of St. Andrew is one of the most successful, effective, and efficient nonprofits in the country. SoSA addresses two very real and vital problems in our nation: hunger and nutrition, and does so in a way that "just makes sense". Our programs prevent waste and reduce our nation's landfills. SoSA engages tens of thousands of volunteers, thousands of farmers and produce growers, and thousands of essential feeding programs. As a result, we feed millions of hungry Americans at just pennies per pound. Everything that is needed to feed every hungry person in this country already exists. SoSA brings it all together in a remarkable way. And we do this with a total overhead cost of just 3.5%! By any standard imaginable, that is incredible success. In the recent years of economic challenges, the country and the hungry needed SoSA more than ever. SoSA is certainly not immune to the economic forces that challenge all organizations, but we found ways to increase our food distribution to meet the growing need. Millions of Americans were added to the rolls of our nation's hungry, and SoSA saved and distributed millions of pounds of additional food while trimming our own expenses. With distribution reaching into all 48 contiguous states, the Society of St. Andrew has a broad impact on a critical problem. Over 45 million people don't get enough to eat - in America! If just those Americans stood in a line, hand-in-hand, that line would stretch around the entire planet. In this country we simply aren't aware that we have a hunger problem. Hunger in America doesn't look like it does in Ethiopia or the Sudan; hungry Americans look just like everyone else. That fact often makes hunger an unrecognized problem. The importance of SoSA's ministry is highlighted by the fact that we are often the only source of fresh produce available to many of the poor in our land. Nutrition is essential in any diet, and especially so for those who may get just one meal a day. The fresh fruits and vegetables that SoSA provides are often the only highly nutritious food available to those in poverty. Food Banks, soup kitchens, and other feeding agencies also depend on SoSA as a source of fresh produce to balance the long shelf-life food donations they normally receive. The ministry of SoSA is so important, and in such demand, that we expanded our programs in VA and elsewhere. In 2012 we set all new records in all our important metrics. Achieving these accomplishments in the current economic environment is a hallmark of our success. The Gleaning Network, the Potato and Produce Project, and the Harvest of Hope all had a very successful year. That success was made possible by a wonderful network of thousands of farmers and growers, tens of thousands of volunteers, and thousands of feeding agencies; as well as individual, church, and corporate financial supporters in every state; and a remarkable staff and a dedicated and engaged Board of Directors. It all came together so that millions more hungry Americans could be fed.