Harvest Hope to honor Patricia Moore-Pastides at 36th Anniversary Gala
March 6, 2017
Harvest Hope Food Bank will host their 36th Anniversary Gala, presented by SCE&G, on Friday, March 10th. The event will include the presentation of the Michael J. Mungo Humanitarian award to Patricia Moore-Pastides for her work in health education, access to quality food, and for her work in setting up the Gamecock Pantry.
Michael J. Mungo, one of the founders and strongest advocates of Harvest Hope Food Bank, knew the struggles of growing up without a reliable food source. With such experience and determination, Mr. Mungo worked tirelessly to ensure that others who faced hunger were able to receive help.
Like Mr. Mungo, recipients of the Michael J. Mungo Humanitarian Award have exhibited remarkable devotion to helping the hungry through volunteerism, advocacy, education, and to constructing a community framework to help those in need. Harvest Hope is proud to recognize Ms. Moore-Pastides, a noteworthy South Carolinian with the same dedication to improve the community as Mr. Mungo.
Ms. Patricia Moore-Pastides, the First Lady of the University of South Carolina, is an accomplished public health professional and author of two nationally recognized award-winning books. In addition, Patricia was the driving force behind the foundation of The Gamecock Pantry, a Harvest Hope agency partner. The goal of the pantry, located on central campus, is to serve the USC campus community by providing food aid and to provide resources to enhance the community’s overall well-being.
Ms. Moore-Pastides cultivates an organic vegetable garden to provide food for university events and the Healthy Carolina Farmers’ Market and works closely with the Campus Wellness Committee. With royalties from her books, she supports health and sustainability initiatives on campus including vegetable gardens across the USC system. Her hope is that all 13 campuses will eventually grow vegetables together with community partners in an effort to fight food deserts in urban and rural South Carolina.
In addition to the presentation of the Michael J. Mungo Humanitarian Award, the Harvest Hope 36th Anniversary Gala, presented by SCE&G, will include a silent auction, live auction, a raffle for a Jim Hudson Lexus RX 350, red carpet guest Shep Rose, from Bravo’s Southern Charm, a live painting by Greenville artist Jared Emerson, local anchor Andrea Mock as emcee, and special musical guest Patrick Davis and His Midnight Choir.
Harvest Hope Food Bank was founded in 1981 as the result of a shared vision of business leaders and the faith community who set out to provide for the hungry in Columbia. Harvest Hope distributed over 28 million pounds of food last year and feeds approximately 38,000 people a week. Their main offices are located in Columbia, but the organization also has satellite locations in Greenville and Florence.
