Surgery's Committee on Social Responsibility

Giving Back to the Community

Department of Surgery's Committee on Social Responsibility

The Department of Surgery's Committee on Social Responsibility, comprised of faculty, trainees, and staff, focuses on several important areas of social responsibility: hunger, homelessness, human trafficking, health equality, childhood education, and medical missions. The committee is co-led by Surgery Vice Chairs Allen Hamdan, MD, Vascular Surgery, and Ted James, MD, MS, FACS, Surgical Oncology, Emily Utaski, Surgery Administration, and Jeffrey Dawson, Peri-Operative Services. The Harvard Medical School Dean's Community Service Award was presented to the Committee on Social Responsibility in 2016 in recognition of the committee's contributions.

The committee's priorities are established through discussion and consensus. You can learn more about our activities and partners below.

If you would like to learn more about the Committee on Social Responsibility, please contact Jeffrey Dawson or Emily Utaski.

Food Is Medicine

Greater Boston Food Bank's Annual Food Is Medicine Gala Founded, organized, and lead by the Department of Surgery, Food is Medicine is a program focused on food insecurity, which culminates in an annual event held at the Greater Boston Food Bank (GBFB), in partnership with BIDMC. The hospital's sixth annual Food is Medicine gala raised more than $90,000 for the GBFB. The funds provide the equivalent of 270,000 meals for hungry families in eastern Massachusetts. Since its inception, Food is Medicine has raised $535,000 for the GBFB, the equivalent of 1.6 million meals.

More than 200 people attended this year's event, which raises money through sponsorships, donations, and a silent auction. Donations of any amount are always welcome.

Food Is Medicine 2018 Co-Chairs

Major Donors

Harvard Medical Faculty Physicians at BIDMC ($27,000)
Department of Surgery (Elliot Chaikof, MD, PhD, Chair)**
Department of Anesthesia, Critical Care, and Pain Medicine (Daniel Talmor, MD, Chief)*
Department of Dermatology (Suzanne Olbricht, MD, Chair)*
Department of Emergency Medicine (Richard Wolfe, MD, Chief)*
Department of Medicine (Mark Zeidel, MD, Chair)*
Department of Neonatology (DeWayne Pursley, MD, MPH, Chief)*
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology (Hope Ricciotti, MD, Chair)*
Department of Orthopaedics (Mark Gebhardt, MD, Chief)*
Department of Pathology (Jeffrey Saffitz, MD, PhD, Chair)*
Department of Psychiatry (William Greenberg, MD, Chief)*
Department of Radiation Oncology (Mary Ann Stevenson, MD, PhD, Chief)*
Department of Radiology (Jonathan Kruskal, MD, PhD, Chair)***

Community Health Partner ($5,000)*
Community Health Sponsors ($2,000)

30,000 Healthy Meals: Community Health Leaders ($10,000)
Robert and Cynthia Lepofsky

15,000 Healthy Meals: Community Health Partners ($5,000)
Carol and Howard Anderson
The Hamdan family
Stephen Kay and Lisbeth Tarlow

7,500 Healthy Meals: Community Health Sponsors ($2,500)
BIDMC (Peter Healy, President, and Kevin Tabb, MD, CEO)

6,000 Healthy Meals: Community Health Sponsors ($2,000)
CardioVascular Institute, BIDMC (Cynthia Phelan, RN, Executive Director)
CareGroup (John Szum, Executive VP and CFO)
High Vista Strategies (Daniel Jick, Vice Chair)
Massachusetts Medical Society

3,000 Healthy Meals: Community Health Friend ($1,000)
Endologix

Silent Auction Donors

Abby Park Restaurant
Acquitaine Boston
Boston Harbor Cruises
Boston Harbor Hotel
Boston Red Sox
Brick & Beam Tavern
Charles Hotel
Justin Chaves
Eric Draeger and Beth Johnson
Grill 23

Allen Hamdan, MD
Sophia Hamdan
Harpoon Brewery
Jennifer and Breton Kelly
David Liu, MD
Novara Restaurant
Jonathan Schwartz
Swan Boats
TPC Boston

My Life My Choice

My Life My Choice, a program of the Justice Resource Institute in Boston, provides mentoring, community education, and skills training for vulnerable teenage girls in an effort to end commercial sexual exploitation. The Committee on Social Responsibility partners with My Life My Choice through volunteer efforts directed at providing vulnerable teenagers with additional support as they return to high school, including the provision of school supplies, backpacks, notebooks, binders, and calculators.

Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless

The Committee on Social Responsibility has partnered with the Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless in Coat Drives to stock "Teen Closets" in area public schools. The Teen Closet Initiative provides free clothing and personal hygiene products in schools, so that students who are poor or homeless can easily obtain what they need. We also partner with the BIDMC Department of Social Work in a winter coat drive for patients in need.

Richard J. Murphy School in Dorchester
Mary Lyons School in Brighton

The committee partners with two local schools with a very diverse student population. Both schools are committed to transforming the lives of all children. The committee has organized volunteer efforts across the department and medical center, among faculty, staff, and residents, to provide holiday gifts for over 90 children at the Murphy School and the Mary Lyons School.

Boston Healthcare for the Homeless

The committee has partnered with the Boston Healthcare for the Homeless and the Red Sox in the annual Sox for Socks campaign. This seasonal drive collects new socks for men and women who are homeless and in need. Approximately 12,000 pairs of socks have been contributed since the inception of our partnership with BHCHP.