Last night, David and I went to the City of Cambridge’s annual event in recognition of human service providers. The event was hosted by the Human Service Commission, the Department of Human Service Programs, and the Cambridge Community Foundation.

Two of Food For Free’s fabulous staff, along with staff from a number of other human service agencies, were recognized for their outstanding contributions to the quality of life in Cambridge: Dennis McCarthy, our Operations Manager, and Simon Walsh, our Home Delivery Driver. Both men were honored for their hard work and dedication to bringing fresh, health food to people who need it. Congratulations to both for this well-deserved recognition!

Last night’s program was by far the most interesting of the many I’ve attended. Clifford Cook, Planning Information Manager for the City of Cambridge, presented information gleaned from the 2010 Census and the American Community Survey. It was—for a numbers nerd like me, anyway—an utterly fascinating presentation. He covered topics like population shifts between Cambridge neighborhoods, the increase in the over-65 population, racial diversity within Cambridge, and income inequality. Much of this information either is or will soon be available on the City of Cambridge website, and all of it can be found—with some effort—on the U.S. Census website.

I am so grateful to Cliff for his work to analyze this data and to make it accessible to those of us who rely on it to plan and fund our programs. Thank you, Cliff!

It was also good to see so many of our colleagues in the human service world, including: Ellen Semonoff, Assistant City Manager; Jose Soares and Jolyon Cowan from the City of Cambridge Department of Human Service Programs; Bob Hurlbut, of the Cambridge Community Foundation; Carol Nickerson, from CASPAR; and Carol Cerf, Board Member of Cambridge Camping.

In all, it was a startlingly fun and satisfying event.

–Michelle