Galloway honored for community support
SPECIAL TO FLORIDA WEEKLY

FLORIDA WEEKLY PHOTO Sam Galloway, Jr.

Sam Galloway, Jr. has earned a Salute to Dealers award from Ford Motor Company.

"I get total satisfaction out of helping people," explained Galloway, president of Sam Galloway Ford, which his grandmother founded in 1927. "I feel in my heart it's the right thing to do."

Galloway is among nine North American dealer principals who will receive the eighth annual tribute at a ceremony held Feb. 8 in San Francisco. Honorees were selected from among more than 6,000 dealers across the United States and Canada.

Salute to Dealers is conducted under the guidance of Edsel B. Ford II, a member of Ford's Board of Directors. The program was launched in 2001 to demonstrate the company's commitment to its thousands of dealer principals who step beyond their showroom doors to make a difference where they live and work.

"Sam's inspiring dedication to his neighbors underscores the commitment to corporate citizenship that my greatgrandfather built into the fabric of Ford Motor Company more than a century ago," Edsel Ford said. "He and fellow honorees strengthen communities, set an example for others and bring hope to thousands of people across our country. We are very proud of them."

A painted portrait of each honoree will have a montage of philanthropic and volunteer activities that led to the award. Duplicates of the portraits will join a Salute to Dealers display in the lobby of Ford's World Headquarters in Dearborn, Mich., for year-round viewing.

One of Galloway's proudest achievements involves helping create and guide a nonprofit corporation called Community Cooperative Ministries, which has expanded dramatically since it began as a downtown soup kitchen set up by nearby churches.

In addition to serving meals to more than 300 people each day, the agency operates a food bank that provides groceries for 300 families each week and has a Faith in Action division that helps senior citizens live independently in their homes. Volunteers and benefactors help the elderly with repairs, wheelchair ramps, lawn care and other chores. A partnership with Meals on Wheels of Lee County delivers food for shut-ins, while a new affiliation offers health-screening services.

"Sam Galloway has made it possible for people in our community to feel secure about where their next meal is coming from," said Sarah Owen, Community Cooperative Ministries' chief executive. "He sincerely believes that nobody in any community should go hungry and he puts his heart, soul and backing toward that end."

The latest expansion by Community Cooperative Ministries is a Montessori School that opened in June 2007.

To help finance the growing organization, Galloway hosts an annual "Soup, Symphony, Service" benefit at his Ford service department, converted for the evening into an unlikely setting for a pops concert by the Southwest Florida Symphony. Area restaurants cater the event for 800 benefactors. The surroundings may be humble, but the results are quite substantial. Galloway's fund-raising goal for the 2008 bash is $198,000.

Visions for the future include a second soup kitchen in North Fort Myers. "I'd like to see five of them eventually," he said. "We're in a recession here, and more people need a hand."