Posted by Jon Federman

The Simone Lottor Exceptional Service Award was created in 2001 by Sandy Lottor and his family in memory of Simone Lottor, who for many years was a dedicated JF&CS volunteer. This year's recipient is Laurie Brownstein. The length and breadth of Laurie's volunteerism at JF&CS have made her a superb choice for the award.

Laurie has been involved with JF&CS Hunger and Nutrition since 2012, first as a committee member and volunteer, and more recently as committee co-chair. In her three years in this role, she has demonstrated her natural leadership skills and engaged the committee in thought-provoking conversation, bringing her passion for providing access to fresh and healthy food to her work at JF&CS. She has also volunteered as a workshop assistant, Family Table nutrition assistant, and recipe developer.

Laurie has additionally been a Lauren & Mark Rubin Visiting Moms^® volunteer for more than a decade. Her passion for helping others and her extraordinary listening skills are shared with the new moms she visits, as well as the other Rubin Visiting Moms in her supervision group. With her quiet wisdom and insight, she has served countless new moms and is often tasked with some of the more challenging clients. As a Welcome Baby visitor, sponsored by CJP, Laurie welcomed moms to the Jewish community and checked in to see how they were doing. A dedicated member of the CERS Advisory Committee, Laurie was co-chair of the Women's Breakfast in 2016.

Laurie has a Bachelor of Science from Boston University and is certified as a Health Coach from the Institute of Integrative Nutrition. Aside from her work at JF&CS, she has volunteered with the Share Our Strength Cooking Matters program as a nutritionist and cooking instructor for low-income families. Laurie volunteers for Springwell Inc., where she leads the Stanford evidenced based Diabetes Self Management Program and Chronic Disease Self Management Program for seniors. She also leads Healthy Eating Programs for seniors, a program through Hebrew SeniorLife. Laurie is a co-group leader for the CJP Women's Philanthropy cookbook project. Thanks to her involvement at multiple community organizations, Laurie adds valuable insight and perspective to our programs and organization.

Laurie lives in Newton with her husband, Rich. Together they enjoy skiing, golfing, hiking and boating. They have a son, Ian, who is attending graduate school at Stanford, and a daughter, Nicole, who recently received her Masters degree from Champlain College.

Jon Federman is the JF&CS Staff Writer. A practicing attorney for more than 15 years, he is thrilled to bring his legal and persuasive writing skills to the JF&CS Marketing Communications department. Jon has a BA from Tufts University and a JD from Boston College Law School. In his spare time he is an exhibiting photographer and an award-winning cartoonist. Jon lived in London, England for five years before returning to Boston in 2011.