“Smile Seekers” Surprised by 2012 Walk for Hunger Posters

The Staff of the Frank J. DiMauro, D.M.D.’s Dentist Office are Featured on this Year’s Walk Posters

(Boston, MA – April 12, 2012)  When the ladies who work in the Middletown office of Frank J. DiMauro, D.M.D., decided to join The Walk for Hunger, they had no idea they would become the poster girls for the 2012 Walk.

“We were so excited to see our picture on so many of the 2012 Walk for Hunger posters,” said team leader Amy Ogden Benoit, who is third from the right in the photo.

The team formed after Benoit was exercising at a gym in Georgetown and her trainer suggested she schedule a walk as something to work toward.  She selected The Walk for Hunger and began recruiting the entire staff at the office to join her team.  They were so excited about the Walk they all did individual training as well as planned group trainings every weekend, meeting in different locations along the North Shore and increasing their distance each week. During their preparations, Dr. DiMauro’s assistant, Linda Russo, far right, came up with the name “Smile Seekers” because she thought it related both to dentistry and feeding the hungry.

Almost half-way through the 20-mile Walk last year, a professional photographer, working pro bono, stopped the group and asked that they all jump on the count of three, capturing the moment that is now featured on the 2012 posters, postcards, taxi-tops and other promotional materials for The Walk for Hunger. As a grass-roots event, the Walk only uses photographs of actual Walkers and Volunteers to promote its event. “We don’t pay for stock photography to promote the Walk,” says Rita Guastella, director of Communications at Project Bread. “Why would we when we have hundreds of marvelous photos of real people like this one to use? Every year, we find new poster Walkers who capture the joy, spirit, and authenticity of our event.”

As a first-year team, the “Smile Seekers” raised $1,740 in 2011 through pledges and donations.  This year their goal is much higher and they hope to raise $10,000.

To register for the Walk for, visit www.progectbread.org/walk, and to donate to the “Smile Seekers,” visit www.projectbread.org/smileseekers.

Photo caption: Staff at the dental office of Dr. Frank J. DiMauro in Middleton jump in the air at the 2011 Walk for Hunger. Pictured from left to right: Jean Murphy, Joanne Murphy, Barbara Masse-Zagami, Amy Ogden Benoit, Susan Cadogan, and Linda Russo.

About Project Bread
As the state’s leading anti-hunger organization, Project Bread is dedicated to alleviating, preventing, and ultimately ending hunger in Massachusetts. Through The Walk for Hunger, the oldest continual pledge walk in the country, Project Bread provides millions of dollars each year in privately donated funds to support hunger relief through emergency programs, schools, community health centers, farmers’ markets, community suppers, home care organizations, and other programs that protect the individual and strengthen our community food security. The Walk’s flagship sponsor is Freihofer’s Baking Company; its participating sponsors include Arbella Insurance Group Charitable Foundation, and Raytheon Company. For more information, visit www.projectbread.org, www.facebook.com/projectbread, or www.twitter.com/walkforhunger.