Business Observer

+ Comcast and All Faiths team up to fight hunger
Comcast and All Faiths Food Bank joined forces for the 13th Comcast Cares Day Saturday, April 26.

Local Comcast employees, their friends and families and local volunteers worked together at the food bank warehouse to sort and prepare hundreds of pounds of donated food to be distributed through the nonprofit’s programs.

Comcast Cares Day is the company’s signature day of service and the nation’s largest single-day corporate volunteer effort.

All Faiths Food Bank is a member of Feeding America and the hub of the hunger-relief system in DeSoto and Sarasota counties. Last year, All Faiths Food Bank distributed 7 million pounds of food equating to 5.8 million meals through 195 pantries, soup kitchens, churches, community centers, schools and programs. For information, visit allfaithsfoodbank.org.

+ Jewish Housing Council names Heidi Brown CEO
The Sarasota-Manatee Jewish Housing Council Inc. has named Heidi Brown as chief executive officer of Kobernick-Anchin-Benderson senior living. As CEO, Brown is responsible for overseeing the entire campus, including independent living in Kobernick House, assisted living, secure memory care, skilled nursing and rehabilitation in Anchin Pavilion and the Benderson Family Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation Center. She will work with the Jewish Housing Council operating and foundation boards to manage the planned expansion of facilities and services on the campus as outlined in the organization’s master facilities plan. She will also be responsible for continuing to build donor relationships.

Brown brings more than 17 years of experience in leadership roles with senior living communities in the Washington, D.C., area. 

She earned her Master of Social Work at University of Maryland at Baltimore, her undergraduate degree in psychology at State University of New York at Albany, and she is a Certified Assisted Living Manager.

+ Kristen Anderson receives Citizen of the Year Award
The Sarasota Alumni Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Inc. presented Kristen L. Anderson, program director of special programs at SCF, with its Citizen of the Year Award April 5.

Anderson received the award, which honors community leaders based on their dynamic service to the community and on the job, for her role in assisting underprivileged young men and women in succeeding and persisting in college.

She has served as the College Reach-Out Program (CROP) director at SCF since 1997 and was instrumental in establishing the Summer Bridge Program in 2001-02. She also was a youth development worker in the Peace Corps in Niger, West Africa.

Anderson earned her Master of Arts in intercultural relations from Lesley University in Cambridge, Mass. She is pursuing a Ph.D. in Leadership and Education with a specialization in higher education from Barry University in Miami Shores.