The Mid Atlantic Food Trade Organization (MAFTO) recently awarded four scholarships to students studying food marketing at Saint Joseph’s University’s Academy
of Food Marketing. Additionally, the Genuardi Family Foundation announced its scholarship winners for both 2020 and 2021. The primary MAFTO scholarship was Daniel Shell, announced John J. Brennan, chairman of the MAFTO scholarship committee. Shell is in the food marketing co-op program at Saint Joseph’s University and is double majoring in business intelligence and analytics. He is currently a commercial development co-op at Colgate-Palmolive on the Kroger team. At the end of this coop, he will return to campus for his senior year. After graduation, he intends to work in category management for a CPG company where he can leave a lasting impact on his team and in the community. This year, due to the continued generosity of the food industry contributing to MAFTO’s fundraising events, the 501c3 organization was also able to grant three secondary scholarships to other food marketing rising seniors.
Iqra Shahzad is a food marketing major/business intelligence and analytics minor. Currently she is working for Chick-fil-A in New York City. “I hope to earn my bachelor’s degree next year and start my own business after graduation,” said Shahzad. “I enjoy reading books and volunteering during my free time. Throughout the year, I have been volunteering at a resource center trying to connect broken people to a community of support by providing free resources and services that address immediate and long-term needs in the areas of homelessness, hunger, poverty, addiction, abuse, education, and human trafficking.”
Tom Francesconi is a junior food marketing and business intelligence and analytics double major. This summer he will be living in Chicago working as a sales leadership development intern for E&J Gallo Winery. After graduating in the spring of 2022, Francesconi hopes to begin his career in the food and beverage industry in either sales, marketing or analytics. Francesconi commented, “I hope to gain as much experience as I can early in my career so I am able to develop myself into the best person, leader and professional I can be. THWND!”
Kelly Camperson is a junior at Saint Joseph’s University where she is majoring in both food marketing and business intelligence and analytics. Her first co-op was at Giant Heirloom Market where she served as a team leader. She managed the ordering for the
meat and seafood departments and gained an immense amount of customer service experience. Her second co-op, where she is working currently, is at Kellogg’s where she is a temporary student support for the East region category management team. She recently transitioned into the sales internship and will be working there until the end of July. After graduation, Camperson wants to continue working on the food industry. As of now, she has many ideas as to what she exactly wants to do. One of them would be to continue working in category management for a big CPG company such as Kellogg’s. MAFTO’s goal to aid with those in need in the food and related industry and scholarships for its members’ families. The Genuardi Family Foundation announced four scholarships recently for both the 2020 and 2021 academic years. Since 2004, the foundation created by the Genuardi family that owned and operated Genuardi Family Markets, has awarded $800,000 to 45 students in the program in honor of the Genuardi Brothers.
The first Genuardi Scholarship for 2020 went to Kelly Ann Camperson, who is noted above as a MAFTO scholarship recipient. The other 2020 Genuardi scholarship recipient, Dewey H. (Ben) Bunch IV, graduated in 2018 from Central Bucks High School West in Doylestown. He is a sophomore at Saint Joseph’s University and is studying to receive a bachelor of science degree in food marketing and leadership, ethics and organizational sustainability (LEO) in 2022. Bunch was honored as the rookie of the year for men’s cross country at Saint Joseph’s University where he competes on their division 1 team. His other activities include membership in Delta Sigma Pi and serving as an orientation leader for the class of 2024. Bunch is presently employed as a customer service manager at Shan-Gri La Farm, where he is learning to make effective management decisions. He has also recently been hired as a part time retail merchandiser intern at Mondelez, where he is fulfilling the merchandising needs of customers. The 2021 Genuardi scholarship winners are Jack Failing and Maggie
Nowlan. Failing is a sophomore food marketing co-op major at Saint Joseph’s University. In his senior year at Abington Senior High School, he was a co-captain of the soccer team and an overall director of mini-THON, which raised more than $54,000 for pediatric cancer research and support. At St. Joe’s, Failing recently finished his first co-op experience with Brown’s Super Stores, part of the sixth largest owner group within Wakefern. He was an operations/management Co-op throughout a major remodel at ShopRite of Bensalem, PA. He was also responsible for constructing centralized merchandising schedules for the remodel, as well as creating a packaging and processing solution for a new e-commerce segment in frozen desserts. Failing was recently inducted into Beta Gamma Sigma, the International Business Honor Society. He is also an active member of Delta Sigma Pi, a business fraternity on campus, the Food Marketing Association, and the Dean’s Leadership Program. After seeing three siblings graduate from the food marketing co-op program and excel in their professional careers, he looked to navigate his own career path.
The second 2021 scholarship recipient is Margaret Nowlan, also known as Maggie, who graduated from Hammonton High School in 2019. She is currently finishing up her sophomore year at Saint Joseph’s University where she majors in food marketing,
along with finance. Nowlan accumulated over 500 hours of community service in
high school by volunteering for an organization called PALS, which supports the Down syndrome community. At SJU, she has been inducted into the International Business Honor Society, Beta Gamma Sigma. Since only the top five percent of Haub’s business sophomores get invited, this was a huge accomplishment for her. She is also an active member of SJU’s chapter of Sigma Sigma Sigma sorority, which has helped her form
great friendships all over campus.
