Senators McGovern and Dole to Receive Lifetime Achievement Award

Senator George McGovern and Senator Bob Dole have been chosen as the recipients of the 2005 Gene White Lifetime Achievement Award for Child Nutrition.

The 2005 Gene White Lifetime Achievement Award will be presented to the senators at the annual "A Possible Dream" Gala, held on Tuesday, March 15, 2005 at DAR Constitution Hall in Washington, DC.

This prestigious award from the Child Nutrition Foundation of the School Nutrition Association (SNA) was created in 2004 to honor those, like Senator McGovern and Senator Dole, who have worked tirelessly toward the dream of ending childhood hunger.

As part of this dream, the senators created the McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program. The program helps support education, child development and food security for some of the world's poorest children. Additionally, it provides for donations of U.S. agricultural products, as well as financial and technical assistance, for school feeding and maternal and child nutrition projects in low-income, food-deficit countries that are committed to universal education.

The program is named in honor of both senators for their efforts to encourage a global commitment to school feeding and child nutrition.

Senator McGovern presented the first award to Gene White, one of child nutrition's greatest advocates. White has dedicated her life to children and the benefits that good nutrition can provide them. For several years she worked as director of various school food and nutrition programs and as assistant superintendent and director of Child Nutrition Programs for the California State Department of Education.

In addition to White serving as the 1977-78 president of the SNA (formerly the American School Food Service Association), she has been chair of the Global Child Nutrition Forum (GCNF) and was involved in creating the Latin American School Feeding Network (LASFN). Gene has traveled the globe and seen firsthand the children that are deprived of the benefits of sound nutrition. She is a beloved mentor to many school foodservice professionals, an ambassador to the Foundation's international delegates and an instant friend to everyone who is fortunate enough to be in her presence.

The Foundation provides nutrition education, training, scholarships and special events for all SNA members. It also has extended its reach globally by hosting delegates from Third World countries at the Global Child Nutrition Forum held each year in conjunction with SNA's Annual National Conference, and by becoming a Founding Member of the LASFN. Its boundaries continue to expand as it reaches out to international school feeding professionals and the programs they run. Proceeds from this special evening support the Foundation's global school feeding initiatives.

For more information on "A Possible Dream" Gala or to be a part of this extraordinary evening, call (800) 877-8822.

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