AWCSF January Meeting Will Honor Mary Wong, President of the Office Depot Foundation

BOCA RATON, Fla. - Jan. 17, 2017 - PRLog -- Mary Wong, President of the Office Depot Foundation, will be honored Tuesday, January 24, 2017 as the "Oustanding Communicator of the Month" for January by the Association for Women in Communications South Florida Chapter (AWCSF). The celebration of Mary's will be held from 5:30 pm to 8:00 pm at The Blue located on the 27th floor at the Boca Raton Resort, 501 E. Camino Real, Boca Raton, FL 33432.

"Mary Wong has contributed to a wide range of philanthropy causes and organizations, and her work in public service has been enormously effective," observed Tonya Scholz, co-president of AWCSF. "Not only has Mary run Office Depot's foundation for over 10 years—making sure it fulfills its mission –"Listen Learn Care ®--which revolves around supporting a variety of programs that give children the tools to succeed in school and life.
" At the same time, she has also developed an outstanding record of public service in other areas from the United National's Women's Committee to disaster relief to fighting epilepsy. We are very pleased to honor her contributions to public service, as well as her leadership of Home Depot's Foundation.

Mary rose to her position over a career of more than 22 years at Home Depot. She served first as a store manager in Minnesota and then as district manager in Chicago. She is now based in Boca Raton where the headquarters of Home Depot is located.

Today Mary serves on two major national boards—the United Nations Womens' Committee and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation Corporate Citizen Center, where she is co-chair the Business and Disaster Assistance and Recovery Program. That position draws on her former experience serving on the White House Disaster Assistance Recovery and Volunteerism Committee.  In the past, she served on two other major boards--the Epilepsy Foundation of America and Feed the Children.

Mary has also received a number of awards for her public service. Two of these are the Emerald Award for Global Citizenship from the Girl Scouts of Southeast Florida (2016 and a Community Service award from the Inner City Youth Golfer's Association.

In addition, other organizations have honored Mary in recent years which reflect recognition of the breath of her contributions.  Last year she was included in the list of  "America's Top 25 Philanthropy Executive Brands and also named as one of the "Top 20 Women in Philanthropy, Social Innovation and Civil Engagement" by Michael Chatman, host of #whygive on Twitter.
Mary is a devoted dog owner and dedicated supporter of animal rescue organizations.

**RSVP REQUIRED**

Please email info@awcsouthflorida.org to get on the list. Boca Raton Resort is a private club so you must RSVP to gain entrance.

Event hashtag: #awcsftalktales

About Association for Women in Communications South Florida Chapter (@AWCSF):

Association for Women in Communications South FL chapter connects communicators in Palm Beach, Broward, and Miami-Dade Counties, facilitating its members' integration into the business matrix of South Florida and promoting their personal and professional advancement. Helping to cultivate the complex relationships that bridge all communications disciplines, the AWC South Florida interfaces networking and professional development to equip its members to excel in their fields. For more info: http://awcsouthflorida.org ; Twitter.com/awcsf ; Facebook.com/awcsf; Instagram.com/awcf

The National Association for Women in Communications (@AWC):
Association for Women in Communications celebrated 100 years of accelerating women communicators' careers in 2009, cementing its position as the oldest and most comprehensive professional association in the industry. For more
info:http://womcom.org ; Facebook.com/AWCNational ; Twitter.com/AWCConnect

About Mary Wong:

Mary Wong is a former member of the White House Disaster Assistance Recovery and Volunteerism Committee and served on the board of directors of the Epilepsy Foundation of America and Feed the Children. In 2016, she received the Emerald Award for Global Citizenship from the Girl Scouts of Southeast Florida and was named the Champion for Epilepsy by the Epilepsy Foundation of Florida. She also was honored with an International Women's Leadership Award by Suits, Stilettos and Lipstick and received a Community Service Award from the Inner City Youth Golfers Association during the year. In 2015, Mary was recognized as Food For The Poor's "Ambassador for the Poor" and honored at a special Back to School Breakfast by the American Association for Caregiving Youth during Boca Festival Days in August. She also was honored as Entrepreneur of the Year by South Palm Beach SCORE. Mary was named the Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America's 2012 Champion for Drug-Free Kids honoree and was included on the 2016 list of "America's Top 25 Philanthropy Executive Brands" and was named one of the "Top 20 Women in Philanthropy, Social Innovation & Civic Engagement" by Michael Chatman, host of #whyigive (https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/whyigive) on Twitter. An avid gardener and lover of crafts of all kinds, Mary is a devoted dog-owner and a dedicated supporter of animal rescue organizations. She has been with Office Depot more than 22 years, serving first as a store manager in Minnesota and then as a district manager in Chicago.

About The Office Depot Foundation:

The Office Depot Foundation is an independent foundation − tax exempt under IRC Sec. 501(c)(3) − that serves as the independent charitable giving arm of Office Depot, Inc. In keeping with its mission, Listen Learn Care ® , the Foundation supports a variety of programs that give children tools to succeed in school and in life; build the capacity of nonprofit organizations through collaboration and innovation; and help communities prepare for disasters, as well as recovering and rebuilding afterwards. For more information, visit www.officedepotfoundation.org. (http://www.officedepotfoundation.org/)