An ASU alumnus donated $10,000 from Ford Motor Company Wednesday to St. Mary’s Food Bank Alliance in downtown Phoenix.
The Ford Focus Global Test Drive campaign awarded 20 people with checks of $10,000 each to recognize their commitment to nonprofit charity work. Recipient Adam Lowy, a 2008 graduate of ASU’s W.P. Carey School of Business, donated the proceeds to the local Phoenix food bank.
Lowy organized Move For Hunger, a nonprofit organization based in Neptune, New Jersey, that gathers unwanted food after families sell their houses and donates it to community food banks. The organization works with moving companies to transport the food.
“By bringing the transportation industry to the forefront of this cause, not only are we bringing everyday awareness and engaging people to get involved, but I hope to create new channels in distribution and reduce costs for food banks around the country,” Lowy said.
Jerry Brown, spokesman for St Mary’s, explained that for every dollar the charity receives, it donates seven meals to Arizona’s hungry, so Lowy’s $10,000 through Ford resulted in 70,000 donated meals.
Ford awarded the money to raise publicity by giving Lowy a new 2012 Focus to travel the country.
Lowy test-drove the car on a 28-day, 7,000-mile trip around the country to promote Move for Hunger. Arizona’s St. Mary’s Food Bank Alliance was the final destination.
“We had meetings with food banks in almost every city,” Lowy said. “We want to show that food banks are not sad places where homeless are sitting around, praying for food. These organizations are closing the gap, giving them the right information and helping get them back on track. That’s what I hope to show with this road trip.”
Lowy said he chose St. Mary’s Food Bank Alliance as the recipient of Ford’s $10,000 because of its prominence and location and that it was the world’s first food bank.
“I figured, what better place to end?” Lowy said. “Plus, as a Sun Devil graduate, a couple days in Arizona never hurts.”
Lowy attributed much of his success to the education and experiences he received as an undergraduate student at ASU and from participating in student organizations such as Programming and Activities Board. He also said his guidance from the W.P. Carey School was invaluable, adding, “You can’t knock a Sun Devil, W.P. Carey education.”
Contact the reporter at jestein1@asu.edu
