AmpleHarvest.org Founder / Executive Director Gary Oppenheimer Named 2013 Purpose Prize Fellow
The Purpose Prize honors Americans 60 and older solving the world’s toughest social problems.
Newfoundland, NJ, November 27, 2013 --(PR.com)-- Encore.org has announced that Gary Oppenheimer of Newfoundland NJ is a 2013 Purpose Prize fellow. The Purpose Prize is the nation’s only large-scale investment in social entrepreneurs and other creative problem solvers in the second half of life.
“Purpose Prize fellows are using their passion and experience to help solve some of society’s toughest problems,” said Marc Freedman, founder and CEO of Encore.org and author of The Big Shift. “They represent a growing wave of people in their 60s and beyond who are using their know-how to change the world, while shifting perceptions of what is possible in this stage of life.”
The Purpose Prize program is funded by the John Templeton Foundation, The Atlantic Philanthropies. and Symetra. The Prize is awarded by Encore.org, a nonprofit that promotes encore careers – work that is both personally meaningful and serves the greater good.
Oppenheimer created AmpleHarvest.org, an online resource to connect local gardeners with food pantries so excess fresh produce gets to hungry people rather than thrown away. On a larger scale, he has demonstrated that some problems can be handled “in the cloud” at a much lower cost and without having to build any new infrastructure or logistics by simply connecting the dots between the resources and the need already existing side by side within the community.
“I am delighted to have been named a 2013 Purpose Prize fellow, but the greater recognition should ultimately go to the millions of home growers nationwide who are using AmpleHarvest.org to help eliminate food waste, hunger and malnutrition in their own community,” noted Oppenheimer. “As somebody who hates waste and missed opportunities, this model seemed obvious to me as a way of helping to reduce childhood obesity, Type II diabetes and a host of other problems borne of the food 1 in 6 America’s rely on. Ultimately, I fully expect that this food recovery model will be as ubiquitous as recycling has become today and will permanently change the face of hunger and nutrition in America.”
A panel of 21 judges – leaders in business, politics, journalism and the nonprofit sector – chose the seven winners from a pool of more than 1,000 nominees. This year’s 43 fellows are finalists for The Prize. An awards ceremony will be held in December in San Francisco.
For more information visit www.AmpleHarvest.org/PurposePrize.
About AmpleHarvest.org
AmpleHarvest.org, Inc. is a not-for-profit 501c3 organization which diminishes malnutrition, hunger and food waste in America by educating, encouraging and empowering growers to easily find a nearby food pantry eager to receive the excess garden bounty. For more information on the campaign, visit www.AmpleHarvest.org/press or call AMPLE-6-9880 (267-536-9880).
About Encore.org
Encore.org is a nonprofit organization building a movement to make it easier for millions of people to pursue “encore careers” – second acts for the greater good. The Purpose Prize, funded by the John Templeton Foundation, The Atlantic Philanthropies and Symetra, is a program of Encore.org.
Follow AmpleHarvest.org at twitter.com/AmpleHarvest and at Facebook.com/AmpleHarvest.org.
“Purpose Prize fellows are using their passion and experience to help solve some of society’s toughest problems,” said Marc Freedman, founder and CEO of Encore.org and author of The Big Shift. “They represent a growing wave of people in their 60s and beyond who are using their know-how to change the world, while shifting perceptions of what is possible in this stage of life.”
The Purpose Prize program is funded by the John Templeton Foundation, The Atlantic Philanthropies. and Symetra. The Prize is awarded by Encore.org, a nonprofit that promotes encore careers – work that is both personally meaningful and serves the greater good.
Oppenheimer created AmpleHarvest.org, an online resource to connect local gardeners with food pantries so excess fresh produce gets to hungry people rather than thrown away. On a larger scale, he has demonstrated that some problems can be handled “in the cloud” at a much lower cost and without having to build any new infrastructure or logistics by simply connecting the dots between the resources and the need already existing side by side within the community.
“I am delighted to have been named a 2013 Purpose Prize fellow, but the greater recognition should ultimately go to the millions of home growers nationwide who are using AmpleHarvest.org to help eliminate food waste, hunger and malnutrition in their own community,” noted Oppenheimer. “As somebody who hates waste and missed opportunities, this model seemed obvious to me as a way of helping to reduce childhood obesity, Type II diabetes and a host of other problems borne of the food 1 in 6 America’s rely on. Ultimately, I fully expect that this food recovery model will be as ubiquitous as recycling has become today and will permanently change the face of hunger and nutrition in America.”
A panel of 21 judges – leaders in business, politics, journalism and the nonprofit sector – chose the seven winners from a pool of more than 1,000 nominees. This year’s 43 fellows are finalists for The Prize. An awards ceremony will be held in December in San Francisco.
For more information visit www.AmpleHarvest.org/PurposePrize.
About AmpleHarvest.org
AmpleHarvest.org, Inc. is a not-for-profit 501c3 organization which diminishes malnutrition, hunger and food waste in America by educating, encouraging and empowering growers to easily find a nearby food pantry eager to receive the excess garden bounty. For more information on the campaign, visit www.AmpleHarvest.org/press or call AMPLE-6-9880 (267-536-9880).
About Encore.org
Encore.org is a nonprofit organization building a movement to make it easier for millions of people to pursue “encore careers” – second acts for the greater good. The Purpose Prize, funded by the John Templeton Foundation, The Atlantic Philanthropies and Symetra, is a program of Encore.org.
Follow AmpleHarvest.org at twitter.com/AmpleHarvest and at Facebook.com/AmpleHarvest.org.
Contact
AmpleHarvest.org, Inc.
Holle Kathenes
267-536-9880
www.AmpleHarvest.org/press
Follow AmpleHarvest.org at twitter.com/AmpleHarvest, Facebook.com/AmpleHarvest.org and www.AmpleHarvest.org/blog
Holle Kathenes
267-536-9880
www.AmpleHarvest.org/press
Follow AmpleHarvest.org at twitter.com/AmpleHarvest, Facebook.com/AmpleHarvest.org and www.AmpleHarvest.org/blog
Contact
Categories