JOHN ALTADONNA

John Altadonna is a catalyst for change. He is a part of many community service activities; however, he was the key volunteer of an event that was recognized by the International Festival and Events Association as the “Gold Award” winner for the Best Event/Program to Benefit a Charity. Because of the success inspired by Altadonna, this program is also recognized as holding the Guinness record for the most food collected for the most food collected for a charity in a 24-hour period. Named FoodStock, this one-day collection netted 37,540 counted and verified items. Each of which was distributed within 48 hours to 11 local food banks. Through Altadonna’s efforts, an active county with a population of 41,765 was mobilized to help those in need. The media campaign began six months prior to the 24-hour event. A tie-dyed Woodstock theme with t-shirts for the volunteers, posters for publicity and stickers for the contributors set off a massive organizational effort. More than 20 nonprofit organizations and over 1,500 volunteers were a part of this massive effort. Throughout the event, Altadonna worked tirelessly to make a significant difference in the lives of needy members of the community. Because of the success of the event, the Pennsylvania Governor’s Commission has adopted the FoodStock program for Community Service. AmeriCorps volunteers will operate it across Pennsylvania on Pennsylvania Family Service Day. They will then work to try to make this a National AmeriCorps Project. In addition to this great undertaking, Altadonna volunteers his time to the Autumn Leaf Festival and the Clarion Area Chamber of Business and Industry. He has been involved for nine years, giving in excess of 4,500 hours of his time to those organizations alone. Altadonna also serves as a Director of the Keystone AmeriCorps, supports the local school districts with job shadow opportunities, employment for the disadvantaged youth, hosts a program that provides youth with $1,000 community scholarships and donates to more than a dozen other worthwhile causes.