Wakefern to Host 2011 Tribute to N.J. Women and Industry

Wakefern Food Corp. will serve as host company for the 32nd Annual Tribute to Women and Industry (TWIN) Awards Dinner. As such, the Keasbey, N.J.-based retail cooperative, whose members operate more than 200 ShopRite locations in the Northeast, will donate $45,000 in cash and services to the YWCA of Central New Jersey’s TWIN program to help the organization provide career and mentoring services. The dinner will take place on Thursday, March 31, 2011, at the Palace on Davidson Avenue in Somerset, N.J., during Women’s History Month.

“This year marks the 20th anniversary of Wakefern’s affiliation with the YWCA’s Tribute to Woman and Industry (TWIN) program,” noted Wakefern president and COO Dean Janeway, who is honorary chair of the event. We … are proud of our two-decade relationship with a program that supports and mentors women throughout central New Jersey.”

TWIN began in New Jersey in 1975 and expanded to the central part of the state in 1979. Now a national and international awards program of the YWCA, the program annually honors outstanding businesswomen and their companies. Its mission is to honor women who have excelled in their fields and made significant contributions to industry in executive, managerial and professional position, as well as to recognize corporations whose policies and practices encourage high achievement by women and that provide equal advancement opportunities for women of diverse backgrounds. TWIN honorees in turn lend assistance to young women entering industry by acting as career speakers, role models, and mentors to students and women of all ages.

The program also sponsors the Center for Career Options, which provides lifespan career services for women, men and teenagers through individual and group counseling, workshops, seminars and career development programs, and the TWIN Management Forum (TMF), a network of TWIN honorees that meets regularly to take part in a range of initiatives relating to career and personal development, as well as helping other women reach their educational and career goals by means of the TMF Scholarship Fund.

More information on the program is available by calling TWIN 2011 coordinator Bonnie Sirower at 201-446-1814 or visiting www.ywca-cnj-twin.org.