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SeaShare News:
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Hauling
Back
There is a time
to set your gear and a time to haul it in. Setting is
always a time of hopeful anticipation, praying for the
best, knowing that fortune can be with you or against
you. Hauling back is the moment of truth when you see
what you’ve got. In January, it was time for me
to haul back after 15 years as SeaShare’s Executive
Director. When I look at what we endeavored to do during
that time, I am humbled by the efforts and generosity
of so many people who have supported SeaShare. I am
thrilled by what we have accomplished, to provide such
a tremendous amount of seafood to people in need throughout
the United States. Though our challenges have changed
during the past 15 years, the goal has always been the
same. It has never been to simply fill plates; it is
to nourish and to educate; to provide wholesome, quality
seafood to people who struggle to get nutritious food
and for whom it would otherwise be unobta inable.
It
isn’t possible to thank everyone individually for
their efforts to support SeaShare’s work during
this time. There are some towers of strength without which
our accomplishments would be a fraction of the gains we
pride ourselves on today. I feel a deep personal sense
of appreciation to those who have given me the guidance
and the encouragement to forge ahead. I am especially
thankful to SeaShare’s current and past board members
who are the strength behind our achievements, and to Jim
Harmon, SeaShare’s new Executive Director who has
led our operations activity since 2000. There are some
outstanding companies whose leadership and generosity
paved the way to our success in becoming one of the largest
sources of protein for hunger relief in America. Among
these are Kraft Foods, Trident Seafoods, American Seafoods
Company, Ocean Beauty Seafoods, UniSea, Alyeska Seafoods,
all of the members of the At-Sea Processors Association,
Feeding America (formerly America’s Second Harvest),
Diversified Communications, National Marine Fisheries
Service, and the National Fisheries Institute.
It’s
been quite a haul, exceeding my wildest expectations.
We have landed the best of the best, and I am profoundly
grateful. In the current economic climate, there is no
question that SeaShare is setting out in choppy seas.
More than ever, the people who depend on our products
are looking to us to come through for them. Though I will
sincerely miss the action, I will continue to provide
support from the wings, and do everything in my power
to help SeaShare bring in the successes our donors and
our recipients have come to expect from us.
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