SCIF Wins Advance America Award of Excellence

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) & The Center for Association Leadership, Washington, D.C., announced recently that Safari Club International Foundation (SCIF) has won an Award of Excellence. SCIF will also be a finalist for the coveted Summit Award to be selected later this year.

Now in its 19th year, the prestigious Associations Advance America Awards program recognizes groups that propel America forward with innovative projects in education, skills training, standard-setting, business and social innovation, knowledge creation, citizenship, and community service. SCIF’s Executive Director John Eichinger and Marketing Director Mark LaBarbera are members of the ASAE, which noted that although the activities of SCIF and other associations have a powerful impact on everyday life, those contributions to society often go unnoticed by the general public.

“SCIF’s Sportsmen Against Hunger program truly embodies the spirit of the Associations Advance America campaign. It is an honor and an inspiration to showcase this activity as an example of the many contributions associations are making to advance American society,” remarked 2008-2009 Associations Advance America Committee Chair Janet C. Gibbs.

Through SCIF’s Sportsmen Against Hunger program, SCI members and chapters in the last five years alone have donated more than 1 million pounds of much-needed high-protein, low cholesterol wild game meat to food shelves, soup kitchens and charities that serve hungry families. Especially in these tough economic times, the donation of over 400,000 pounds of wild game meat in 2008-2009 has made more of a difference than ever. Sportsmen Against Hunger is the original program from which other local and national wild game donation efforts gained their inspiration to launch. To learn more about SCI and the SCI Foundation, visit www.safariclubfoundation.org.

For more information on the Sportsmen Against Hunger program contact Eva Wilson at 520-620-1220, ext. 480.

For more information, contact:

Mark LaBarbera, SCI/SCIF Director of Marketing & Communications, 520-620-1220

The SCI Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit charitable organization that funds and manages worldwide programs dedicated to wildlife conservation, outdoor education and humanitarian services, including such programs as Sportsmen Against Hunger, Sensory Safari, Safari Care, Disabled Hunter, the American Wilderness Leadership School, Becoming an Outdoors Woman & More and Youth Education Seminars (YES) Outdoors. Call 877-877-3265 or visit www.sci-foundation.org for more.