FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MEDIA RELEASE

Roadrunner Food Bank

CONTACT: Jasmin Holmstrup

505-247-2052, ext 129

505-306-5203 (cell)

ROADRUNNER FOOD BANK RECEIVES BUSINESS RECOGNITION

Organization Receives Ethics in Business Award

Executive Director Named Woman of Influence

Albuquerque, NM - February 8, 2007 – Roadrunner Food Bank of New Mexico is pleased to announce that it has received two major awards: For the organization, The Ethics in Business Award, non-profit category, and, our Executive Director, Melody Wattenbarger, has been named one of the 10 Women of Influence in New Mexico by the New Mexico Business Weekly.

“We are greatly honored by these awards,” said Kathy Komoll, Board President of Roadrunner Food Bank.  “Led by Melody Wattenbarger, the staff and volunteers are extremely dedicated to getting the highest quality and quantity of food onto the tables of hungry New Mexicans. It is wonderful that their tireless efforts are being recognized.”

The Ethics in Business Awards is sponsored by the Samaritan Counseling Center.  The awards honor businesses, nonprofit organizations and individuals who work in New Mexico and that demonstrate the highest ethical conduct and social responsibility.  In Samaritan’s announcement it was noted that, “even though it is a large organization with thousands of volunteers and (a small) paid staff, Roadrunner makes sure that its ethical standards are at the core of its being, and, are met and maintained.”  Roadrunner Food Bank was one of 6 nominees for the non-profit category.

Named one of the 10 Women of Influence in New Mexico by the New Mexico Weekly, Melody Wattenbarger has been Executive Director of Roadrunner Food Bank for over 11 years.  In that time, the organization has grown to become one of the largest non-profits in New Mexico, distributing over 14 million pounds of food with a retail value of over $25 million.  Melody has been recognized for her work statewide  for founding  the New Mexico Association of Food Banks, her work with the New Mexico Task Force to End Hunger and nationally as a leader with America’s Second Harvest – the Nation‘s Food Bank network.  She has been previously recognized locally as a Woman on the Move by the YWCA.

###

Roadrunner Food Bank of New Mexico is New Mexico’s largest non-profit organization dedicated to ending hunger.  Through its statewide network of 700 partner agencies and 7 regional food banks, Roadrunner Food Bank distributed more than 14 million pounds of food in 2006 to approximately 240,000 New Mexicans in need.  Roadrunner Food Bank is the  only New Mexico member of America’s Second Harvest—the Nation’s Food Bank Network.  In the 27 years since it was founded, Roadrunner Food Bank has distributed more than 150 million of food statewide.  For more information about Roadrunner Food Bank and its programs visit www.rrfb.org