WOODLAND PARK, NJ — The Eastern Produce Council held its annual dinner dance Saturday, April 5, here, returning to the Westmount Country Club after last year’s event was moved to the Hanover Marriott in Whippany, NJ.

The council presented charitable contributions totaling $15,000 to three organizations: Lead New York Program, Tomorrows Children's Fund and New Jersey Farmers Against Hunger.

“The mission of the council is to On behalf of Tomorrows Children's Fund, Lynn Hoffman (second from left) accepted a charitable donation from EPC's John McAleavey, Vic Savenello and Paul Kneeland. recognize and contribute to worthy organizations,” said EPC President Paul Kneeland, vice president of produce, floral, seafood and meat for Kings Food Markets and Balducci's Food Lovers Markets. “Tonight we will present checks to three most-deserving recipients.”

In the past year the council also donated two salad bars to schools affected by Hurricane Sandy. “The rebuilding continues and we are happy to be a part of improving quality of life for the children in those schools,” he said.

The council then presented Gordon M. Hochberg, vice president of The Produce News, with its 2014 Lifetime Achievement Award.

“It is rare in most business to find genuine, dedicated and passionate gentlemen,” Kneeland said. “We are lucky in the produce industry to have more than most, EPC's John McAleavey, Paul Kneeland and Vic Savenello presented Gordon Hochberg (second from left), vice president of The Produce News, with the EPC's Lifetime Achievement Award.but when it came time to make a decision on who would be our recipient this year those words could not have held more meaning.

“Our candidate comes with something else too, a keen eye for the interest of this industry and his signature boyish grin,” he said.

“This has been an overwhelming, and very humbling, experience. I never thought when I joined The Produce News that I would be honored in this way,” said Hochberg, who began his career with The Produce News in the late 1970s.

“This is an extraordinary personal honor, but this award truly reflects on all the extremely talented colleagues I have worked with over the past 35 years, especially the president of the newspaper, and right through all the editors, writers, salespeople and artists in our headquarters and around the country," he said. "Week after week, year after year, they are the ones who make every issue of The Produce News sparkle.”

Arthur R. Brown Jr., who served as New Jersey's secretary of agriculture from 1982 to 2002, received the council's first-ever Lifetime Achievement Award at last year’s dinner dance.

Kneeland also reviewed highlights from the past year, including the Alliance Event for the Produce Industry, which was jointly sponsored by EPC and the New England Produce Council. The two-day educational seminar focused on the Food Safety Modernization Act and featured presentations by the United Fresh Produce Association and the Produce Marketing Association.

The EPC’s May 13 meeting at the Philadelphia Wholesale Produce Market will be headlined by Ron Jaworski, former NFL quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles.