First Lady Tracey Quillen Carney names First Chance honorees

First Lady Tracey Quillen Carney and members of the End Childhood Hunger Task Force recently announced recipients of First Chance awards.

The award recipients are leaders and teams that stepped up to keep feeding Delaware children when school buildings had to close from mid-March through June due to COVID-19.

“School-based food services represent our front line of defense against childhood hunger, and in support of the nutrition essential to healthy development and learning,” said Carney. “When school buildings had to close, it took a wide range of teams – comprising dedicated, creative, determined individuals – to devise and implement plans to continue to feed our kids. We are so very grateful for their extraordinary work, which they are still doing, on behalf of the children of Delaware. We are proud to recognize these leaders and teams with First Chance awards for extraordinary service to Delaware’s children during the pandemic.”

First Chance Award recipients serving Sussex County are: Boys & Girls Club of Delaware, Tony Windsor; Cape Henlopen School District, Cheryle Lord-Gordon; Delaware Department of Transportation, Mike Rivera, Dan Sturgeon, Warren Ziegler, Butch Kelley and Laura Brown; Delaware National Guard, Capt. Kevin Caneco, Army 1st Lt. James Willey and Sgt. 1st Class Brian Turner; Food Bank of Delaware, Sanjay Malik; Harry K Foundation, Harry Keswani; Indian River School District, Clifton Toomey; Laurel School District, Julie Gibbons; Milford School District, Sharon Forrest; Seaford School District, William Mengel; Woodbridge School District, Joann Joseph; and YMCA of Delaware, Courtney Hoy.

The award recipients, many of whom are Delaware’s Summer Food Service Program sponsors, were able to coordinate sites early this spring so families could pick up meals for children to eat at home. Additional organizations and community partners worked with the SFSP sponsors to ensure students had nutritious meals outside school.

Members of the statewide ECHO Task Force selected the award recipients. With a central team convened by the first lady, the task force includes representatives from the Food Bank of Delaware, the Department of Education, and the Department of Health and Social Services. Its specific goals include increasing participation and building partnerships in support of the Summer Food Service Program and alternative-model school breakfasts. The task force also seeks to promote awareness of all programs, public and private, available to Delawareans experiencing food insecurity.

“The Delaware Department of Education is grateful for all of the hard work and dedication of the Summer Food Service Program Sponsors who quickly jumped into action when schools closed,” said Aimee Beam, an education associate for nutrition programs at the Delaware Department of Education. “Without their creativity and hard work, many children would have gone without the nutritious meals that they need to grow and learn.”

“Nothing is more important to all of us at the Department of Health and Social Services than making sure that Delaware children in need receive meals regularly,” said Ray Fitzgerald, director of DHSS’ Division of Social Services. “We are grateful to all of the First Chance award recipients who helped us meet that priority during the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic.”

“The demand for food assistance as a result of the pandemic has been unprecedented,” said Charlotte McGarry, chief programs officer for the Food Bank of Delaware. “It has truly taken our entire community to ensure that the nutritional needs of Delawareans – especially our children – are met. We are so thankful for all of the hunger heroes who have stepped up during this crisis to make sure children’s most basic needs are met.”

Carney launched the First Chance Delaware initiative in 2018 to recognize and facilitate effective partnerships, to share research and best practices, and to promote opportunities to collaborate in support of Delaware’s children. First Chance Delaware focuses its work on ending childhood hunger and expanding access to nutritious food for low-income children; promoting learning readiness through literacy, health and parent-child engagement programs; and advancing the recognition of and effective responses to adverse childhood experiences.