Title
To commend and congratulate Matt Habash on his 30 years of service to Mid-Ohio Foodbank.
Body
WHEREAS, Matt Habash began his career in non-profit at St. Stephens Community House and flourished under the tutelage of his friend and mentor, John Maloney and with the love and support of his wife Diane, their children, Justin and Kristen and grandchildren Ellie, Josie and Gracie; and
WHEREAS, Matt led Mid-Ohio Foodbank and its 550 partner agencies, covering 20 counties in central and eastern Ohio, to respond to a record number of requests for food assistance in 2013, providing over 50 million pounds of food and groceries for our hungry neighbors; and
WHEREAS, Matt inspired a three year capital campaign from 2007-2010 raising $16 million dollars enabling Mid-Ohio Foodbank to triple their space in a LEED-Gold certified facility to meet the growing demand for food; and
WHEREAS, Matt has an influential role in the food bank industry, leading Feeding America's national initiative to recover an additional 14 billion pounds of unused produce, looking beyond the issue of hunger alone and focusing on the overall health and well-being of people in the communities; and
WHEREAS, Matt was an early pioneer in the food banking industry, increasing Mid-Ohio Foodbank's food distribution from 200,000 meals a year to 121,600 meals a day; and
WHEREAS, Matt has an endless desire to explore and re-invent how Mid-Ohio Foodbank does business and has been a long time visionary leader in the Feeding America network, inspiring his colleagues to put clients first; and
WHEREAS, Matt was instrumental in bringing the community of Authentic Leadership in Action (ALIA) to Columbus, holding a faculty retreat at Mid-Ohio Foodbank, mixing the words and spirit of social innovation and authentic leadership with concrete realities and developed the Collaborating for Clients initiative, focusing for the first time on how we continue feeding hungry people and helping create pathways out of poverty for clients to thrive; and
WHEREAS, Matt Habash continues to provide leadership and insight to many non-profits and boards, has received numerous awards recognizing him for his commitment and work in serving those most vulnerable, including the prestigious John van Hengel Fellowship Award, an honor bestowed upon him by Feeding America and his food banking peers; the 2012 League of Women Voters of Columbus' Democracy in Action Award, the 2010 Corcoran Award for Social Justice and the 2012 CEO of the Year Award for Large Non-Profits by CEO Magazine; now, therefore
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS:
That we hereby commend and congratulate Matt Habash on his 30 years of service to Mid-Ohio Foodbank