2003 Citizen of the Year Recipient |
Martha Faupel Executive Director Food Bank of East Alabama |
| Martha was born and raised in Zaire, Africa where her parents were teachers in a secondary school. She graduated from Bethel College in St. Paul, Minnesota, where she had a double major in Psychology and Greek. She has been married to Chuck Faupel, who is a sociologist at Auburn University, for 26 years. The Faupels are the parents of three daughters. Martha has live in Auburn for 20 years. She was employed as director of Auburn Presbyterian Community Ministry in providing interest-free loans and grants to improve the housing and living conditions of the “poorest of the poor.” People were assisted in repairing houses, paying utility bills, making house and trailer payments and a myriad of other emergency situations and conditions. In 1995, Martha was employed as the director of the Food Bank of East Alabama. Currently the Food Bank provides food each month to over 4,000 Alabamians in six East Alabama counties. Under Martha’s leadership and commitment, the Food Bank has relocated three times, each time to a larger and more functional facility. In 2002, the Food Bank opened the Community Market. This new service allows needy individuals to choose their own food, enhancing dignity of the individuals served. This approach also reduces waste by ensuring that the food chosen is what the individual or their family prefers.Martha Faupel has for 15 years given “service above self’ to Auburn and our surrounding communities. Her compassion for individuals less fortunate and her never ending striving to fight hunger in our community make her a worthy recipient of the Auburn Rotary Club Good Citizenship Award for the year 2002. |