Today, I had the pleasure of attending Charleston Magazine’s Giving Back Awards, and the room was alive with excitement for philanthropy in the Lowcountry. Our table was especially excited because our very own director, Jacki Baer, was honored with the award for Benevolent Spirit. It was really special to see Jacki honored in this way and to hear the inspiring stories of other organizations and individuals that won awards, including:
Congratulations to all of the winners!
I’d like to share an excerpt from our nomination letter so you can learn a little more about Jacki and what makes her so deserving of this award:
Please accept our nomination for Jacki Baer, founder and director of Fields to Families, for the 2009 Giving Back Award for Benevolent Spirit. To some people, philanthropy is something that they participate in, lending a hand when they are asked or writing a check to support a worthy cause. To Jacki Baer, philanthropy is a way of life.
Jacki has dedicated her whole life to giving, first as a teacher, wife and mother, and then through tireless commitment to the community through her leadership in organizations like Lowcountry Plant-A-Row. A native of Albany, New York, Jacki moved to South Carolina in 1989. An avid gardener, she quickly became a member of the Charleston County Master Gardeners program.
As the founder and unpaid director of Fields to Families, Jacki has combined her love for gardening with her passion for helping others. Since the organization’s founding in 2006, she has overseen the operations and the long-term planning and strategy for Fields to Families, a nonprofit dedicated to increasing nutrition to the area hungry by coordinating the distribution of fresh produce obtained from local gardens and farms. In 2008, Jacki led a team of 233 volunteers who worked 4,300 hours to provide 82,398 pounds of fresh produce to the needy. It is because of this one woman’s dedication that approximately 66,000 meals were served at area soup kitchens, shelters and food pantries this year with no charge to the 24 local recipient agencies.
Jacki works full time—in fact, overtime—as a volunteer, coordinating gleanings, arranging deliveries, recruiting volunteers, keeping the organization’s records, just to name just a few of her many daily duties.
Jacki embodies the characteristics that the Benevolent Spirit award was designed to honor. She goes above and beyond and expects nothing in return. To her, the true reward is the joy in people’s eyes when they see fresh vegetables on their plates rather than the usual canned or processed foods, or nothing at all.
It is with exceptional vision and passion that Jacki will continue to lead this wonderful organization and make a real impact on the hungry in our community, when the need is ever increasing.
Submitted by the Fields to Families Board of Directors
