SARASOTA, FL (February 17, 2022) – As All Faiths Food Bank continues to expand its focus from hunger relief to attacking the root causes of hunger, the organization has made a number of moves to support its fundraising and community engagement efforts. A grant specialist has been hired and three members of the development team have been promoted to new roles.
Lauren Franklin joins All Faiths in the newly-created role of grant specialist. Prior to coming to All Faiths, Franklin served as the grant writer and manager of foundation relations for The Greater Boston Food Bank. In that role, she managed a portfolio of approximately 150 institutional funders, wrote hundreds of proposals, and helped to secure a total of $3.1 million in grant funding annually.
In other moves, former donor information manager Julie Smith has been promoted to director of philanthropy operations. She continues with her previous responsibilities but now also oversees the grant specialist and is charged with the development of a new donor prospect and research program. Smith has been with All Faiths since 2013.
Becky Wright, who came to All Faiths in the summer of 2021, has been promoted from development associate to philanthropy specialist. Her new duties will include managing the food bank’s signature special events – which the organization is planning to hold in person this year, should conditions be favorable – and civic organization stewardship.
Victoria Hasselbring, who was hired in the spring of 2019, has been promoted from volunteer and community engagement coordinator to volunteer and community engagement associate. She will now oversee the food bank’s backpack funding group, in addition to previous duties.
“As increased need continues to be an issue, with pandemic effects still being felt, and we expand our work from the ‘right now’ of providing nutritional assistance to lifting people out of poverty in order to end hunger forever, we felt this would be an optimal time to bolster our development efforts,” said All Faiths CEO Sandra Frank. “Without the generous support of our funders, donors and volunteers, our work simply would not be possible. We welcome Lauren to the All Faiths family and congratulate our team members whose excellent work has been recognized through their advancement.”
To learn more about All Faiths, visit allfaithsfoodbank.org or call 941-379-6333.
About All Faiths Food Bank
All Faiths Food Bank is the only food bank and largest hunger relief organization in Sarasota and DeSoto counties, providing millions of meals each year with nearly 200 agencies and programs throughout the community. All Faiths works not only to fight hunger today but also strives to end hunger – forever – by helping families and individuals gain long-term food security, enjoy better health outcomes, and achieve self-sufficiency. In 2021, All Faiths distributed 19 million pounds of food – equating to 17 million meals, provided 36% more meals than 2019 (pre-pandemic), and remained steadfast in its commitment to provide nutritional assistance to community members, including 44% who were new to the food bank. For its efforts, All Faiths was honored as the 2021 “Nonprofit of the Year” by the Sarasota Chamber of Commerce; the organization was also recognized as a Top 4 Food Bank in the country in 2020. All Faiths is rated 4 stars by Charity Navigator and is a member of the Feeding America and Feeding Florida networks. For more information visit allfaithsfoodbank.org.