SeaShare, the Seattle-based non-profit organization that
focuses on seafood as a nutrition source for hungry Americans, launched a month-long
campaign on Dec. 1 to provide an additional one million seafood servings to
food banks.
For every dollar donated, SeaShare can access eight servings
of seafood within the food bank network, says Jim Harmon, executive director of
the organization.
SeaShare, which is now marking its 20th anniversary, just
hit the 200 million mark on seafood servings, Harmon said. Now he’s hoping that
the public will pitch in with enough dollars to boost that total by another
million servings.
SeaShare, a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit organization, was founded
in 1994 with a mission of engaging the seafood industry in a collective effort
to improve nutrition for people served by food banks and feeding centers.
The $100,000 donated recently by Pacific Seafood Processors
Association in memory of Unisea President Terry Shaff, vice president of the
SeaShare board, will be used for an Alaska-centered project yet to be
developed, Harmon said.
SeaShare uses a unique donation model, Harmon said. “We try
to build partnerships with fishermen and processors, and cold storage, freight,
packaging and financial support sectors.”
It’s this unique donation model that brings several partners
together to share costs associated with high value seafood donations.
“SeaShare knows how the industry works and makes it easy for
us to make a difference,” said Mark Palmer, president of Ocean Beauty Seafoods.
“SeaShare’s donations allow Food Lifeline the opportunity to
fill the shelves of hundreds of neighborhood food banks with wholesome protein
that would otherwise be out of reach,” said Linda Nageotte, president and chief
executive officer of Food Lifeline, in Shoreline, Washington.
Donations to SeaShare can be made at any time and more
information on how to donate can be found at www.seashare.org.
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