2021 Delaware Salute to Service Program Book

DELAWARE SALUTE TO SERVICE CO-CHAIRS Tatiana B. Copeland • The Hon. & Mrs. John Carney • Mike Feeley

APRIL 29, 2021

Awards DELAWARE HEROES OUTSTANDING SERVICE BY EMPLOYEES IN THE WORKPLACE OUTSTANDING SERVICE BENEFITING LOCAL COMMUNITIES OUTSTANDING SERVICE BY A COMPANY OR ORGANIZATION OUTSTANDING GLOBAL, NATIONAL, OR LOCAL SERVICE

BY A YOUNG AMERICAN OUTSTANDING SERVICE BY A HIGH SCHOOL LEGACY AWARD

DELAWARE BOARD Guy Marcozzi- Chair John Boykin Scott Champagne Henri du Pont Robert Harra, Jr.

Dan Keever Kai Lassen Cindy Pettinaro-Wilkinson Nicole Poore Laura Ristano

Margarita Rodriguez-Duffy Scott Salisbury Rachel Sewell Dave Tiberi

BOARD OF GOVERNORS Jack Russi- Chair Board of Governors Sam Beard Co-Founder Hillary Schafer Chief Executive Officer

Renee Brown Patsy Doerr Jennifer Ezring Vance Kershner James Meeks Michael O’Mary Scott Perry Tobi Petrocelli

Robert Sakowitz Sam Salman Joseph N. Sanberg Mark Shafir Steve Zide

BOARD OF SELECTORS Paul Andrepont Alex Beard Hon. Peter G. Bourne Cynthia Clay Briggs Ellen Burstyn Andrei Cherny Cris Collinsworth Hon. Chris Coons Tatiana B. Copeland Joyce Cowin Michael Douglas Hon. Arne Duncan Mark Ein Hon. Harold E. Ford, Jr. Patrick J. Geraghty Whoopi Goldberg

Paula M. Grigsby Teresa Heinz Pamela Jacbos-Vogt Alexis Jones Dr. Mary King Thomas B. King Peter Klein Pat LaFontaine Rita Benson LeBlanc Ronnie Lott Hon. Trent Lott Paul Maslansky Peter Max Bill Milliken Alex López Negrete Kathleen Neville

Norah O’Donnell Coby Owens Jorge Plasencia Robert C. Provost Hon. Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Elliott Roosevelt, III Billy Shore Lesley Stahl Jóse Antonio Tijerino Hon. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend Cicely Tyson Troy D. Vincent, Sr. Chris Wallace Hon. Jeffrey P. Yarbo

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DELAWARE HEROES Jim Berman Jim Berman is an Executive Chef with Sodexo, freelance writer, chef presenter, and career cook who has always taken the time to give back to his community. When COVID-19 shut down his site at the Chase Center on the Wilmington Riverfront, he jumped into action volunteering his time cooking for World Central Kitchen in Washington, DC. Over the course of the pandemic, Jim would drive to DC and join all other volunteer chefs making meals for the community at the Nationals’ stadium.

Jim says it has been an inspiring, tiring and meaningful learning experience sharing his skills for the benefit of others. To date he and all the volunteers have made 10,000+ meals a day during COVID-19. After weeks of cooking, Jim took over the purchasing for the Washington Nationals’ relief site. In addition to his service work during the pandemic, Jim Berman has volunteered his time at many events over the years using his culinary talents to help those in need.

Donate Delaware In early March 2020, Donate Delaware Co-Founders Rich Piendak and Dave Tiberi witnessed Delaware’s essential workers and first responders struggle to procure sufficient COVID-19 safety equipment. When COVID-19 became a public health threat, several organizations reached out to the Donate Delaware leadership team stating their dire need for PPE safety equipment, such as masks, gloves, hand sanitizer, and gowns. In order to keep staff and clients safe, organizations needed a supply of protective equipment that they could not, in many cases, easily procure. Donate Delaware was formed to procure and distribute safety equipment so that nonprofits and schools across the state had the supplies they needed. The organization currently serves as a centralized conduit, within the Delaware supply chain, for both donated and purchased supplies. The group has expanded by incorporating volunteers helping at collection sites and with donation deliveries.

Donate Delaware has collected and donated thousands of medical supplies to not only hospitals but police, fire, paramedics, ambulance drivers and non-profits.

OUTSTANDING SERVICE BY EMPLOYEES IN THE WORKPLACE Master Corporeal Tracey Duffy Service is deeply woven into the life of Master Corporal Duffy. One of her main focuses has been working with members of the community to bridge the gap between the community and law enforcement through the Police and Princess Ball.

This annual event co-chaired by Master Corporal Duffy brings together more than 80 girls between the ages of 5-12 years old from the surrounding communities of Edgemoor Gardens & Edgemoor Terrace for a night of safe fun and celebration with members of the New Castle County Police Department and other law enforcement agencies. With the help of Master Corporal Duffy, there has been an outpouring of community support for this event which includes many of the dresses donated for the girls to wear. The evening includes dancing, posing in the photo booth with props and being a princess for a few hours. The motto of the evening is “every girl deserves MULTIPLYING GOOD

to be a princess”. Each year the popularity of this event has grown due to the support of many community members and the passion and commitment of Master Corporal Duffy. In addition, she is a volunteer with Contact Lifeline, a suicide prevention hotline, as well as a leader with Outdoor Afro, an organization that celebrates and inspires black connections and leadership in nature.

Master Corporal Duffy is a 16-year veteran of the New Castle County Division of Police. She has served in the Patrol Division, Professional Development Unit as both the Training Coordinator as well as the Personnel Officer. Master Corporal Duffy was also assigned to the Special Projects and Technology Section as the Public Information Officer for the Division of Police. She was a Community Engagement Specialist assigned to Walking Patrol and is currently assigned to Patrol, Squad B-Western District. Master Corporal Duffy is a certified instructor and is a certified Verbal Defense and Influence instructor. She has taught various courses for New Castle County and the Police Academy and is currently a Field Training Officer.

OUTSTANDING SERVICE BENEFITING LOCAL COMMUNITIES Louise Cummings Since her husband’s death in April of 2017, Louise Cummings has stayed positive, deeply involved in the community, and focused on significant charity work. She started the Ballard Community Fund at the Delaware Community Foundation in memory of her husband, Delaware State Trooper Cpl. Stephen J. Ballard, who was killed in the line of duty. The fund provides grants each year to organizations that support the needs of children, education, dometic violence, mental health, women’s rights and other areas of care that will impact Delaware in a positive way. In 2020, the Ballard Community Fund’s virtual event raised over $44,000. In addition, when COVID-19 hit last March, Louise jumped into action raising over $12,000 to distribute face shields to law enforcement officers in all three counties across the state. Louise created and manages Ballard’s Reading Buddies in partnership with United Way to help foster the love of reading in first and second graders. Louise is also volunteering her time as the Interim Executive Director for Supporting Kids, Inc., a non-profit whose mission is to support a compassionate pathway to healing for children and families who have experienced loss and to empower the community to support them.

William Gay Bill Gay served in the military for 20 years followed by 24 years in Information Technology. When he retired in 2012, he started his third, and favorite career to date, a full- time volunteer in Sussex County, Delaware. Bill found that he was busier than ever focusing his efforts on helping veterans reintegrate into our communities. He and his wife Donna became two of the first volunteers for Bethany Beach’s Operation SEAs the Day- Warrior Family Beach Week helping over 175 wounded warrior families to bond, heal and rejuvenate. This led to his work assisting five families become homeowners through his work with Sussex Habitat for Humanity, the Diamond State Community Land Trust, and the Sussex Contractors for a Cause. Bill also became

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the coordinator of the mentors serving the Sussex County Veterans Treatment Court which has grown over the years to assist 60 males and 7 female veterans. He has also assisted the Home of the Brave, a transitional house for veterans, the Delaware Veterans Home assisted living facility, the National Guard Youth Foundation, and the Ocean View VFW. Bill is also the chair of the St. Martha’s Episcopal Church team who help host the annual Bethany Welcome to the Community Picnic for over 125 international students each year.

Markevis Gideon Markevis Gideon remembers the moment when he discovered his passion for life like it was yesterday. When he was 12 years old, his middle school teacher allowed him to take an old computer home so he could experiment with repairs and the rest is history. That day changed Markevis’s life forever. His teacher empowered to have a career in technology. That gesture led him to pursue training at Howard High School of Technology which changed the trajectory of his life. Today he is the founder of the NERDit CARES which is the philanthropic arm of his company, NERDit Now. It was that one computer that has motivated him to donate over 100 computers each year for the past 5 year to underserved communities. Up until COVID-19, he had donated 538 computers, but in 2020 alone, he has donated over 5,000 devices.

The foundation utilizes volunteers to provide in-kind services, technology hosting, and assistance to individuals and community groups to connect communities with technology. Markevis and his team of volunteers train individuals to help close not only the digital-divide, but the income-divide as well.

Jeremy Moore Just eight years ago, Jeremy Moore, an Army veteran from the 82nd Airborne Division, fell down a dry well nearly 60 feet deep during night patrol in Afghanistan.

The fall left him with multiple body injuries to his back and legs, including serious injuries to his head. He lost his ability to walk and had to learn again while battling depression and self-doubt. He was in pain all the time and was physically, mentally, and spiritually broken. After six years, he rebuilt himself and today he is the cofounder and Executive Director of More Than Fitness. In its third year, the mission of his non-profit is to not only teach high school students self-confidence and trust through physical fitness, but to also help them manage negative emotions and stress by practicing mindfulness and meditation. Jeremy and co-founder Stacey Richardson rely on fundraisers and donations to keep the program going and free for all youth who participate. The non-profit has raised just over $40,000 since their inception in 2018 and have helped more than 100 youth. Jeremy says working out with the kids has given him an opportunity to serve again.

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Toni Short One day when lifting one of her patients in 2014, registered nurse Toni Short sustained a back and neck injury. Not long after that, Toni became homeless. With nowhere to go and with her three cats in her car, she pulled into the Walmart parking lot in Rehoboth and ended up living there for two years. Once she realized that she was not the only homeless person there, she set out to help them. Each day Toni would go out and find food for all of them. Little by little she began to provide motel rooms, meals, clothes and money for people without homes. In 2015, she successfully started a non-profit foundation called Lighthouse for Broken Wings.

Their mission is to provide permanent supportive housing for people experiencing homelessness. Their first transitional house opened in 2016 and welcomed the people who had been living in their cars in the Walmart parking lot with her. She worked with many homeless folks in the transitional home, those living outside, and those in the shelter of motel rooms. Over the years, the transitional home had 50 individuals. In 2019, she was hired as the manager for the Immanuel Shelter which is located inside a hotel. Toni assists 81 people who are experiencing homelessness, including individuals and families. She says this work is challenging, but also rewarding since she has been able to help so many individuals get the resources they need to find jobs, permanent homes, and to obtain the medical attention they desperately need. She has worked without pay for her foundation and has used her own money from outside jobs to pay for those who cannot afford to live in her houses.

Over the years she has been helping the homeless, Toni has impacted the lives of over 500 people and raised $30,000 to support them.

OUTSTANDING SERVICE BY A COMPANY OR ORGANIZATION Lori’s Hands During her sophomore year at the University of Delaware, Sarah LaFave founded Lori’s Hands in memory of her mom who had passed away from breast cancer in 2003. The mission of Lori’s Hands builds mutually beneficial partnerships between community members with chronic illness and college students to foster empathy, connection, and resilience. Students provide practical assistance to support community members’ independence at home and community members share their health and life experiences to support students’ learning. With the onset of COVID-19, the University of Delaware students have found ways to still meet their clients’ needs in safe ways by engaging in conversations through weekly phone and video calls, assisting with online grocery ordering and no contact drop-offs, navigating community resources, and assisting with other activities from a distance.

They also continue to engage hundreds of volunteers in their Green Ribbons Pen Pals program, as an additional way to foster connection through hand-written notes.

Each week, more than 142 community members receive visits from more than 347 college student volunteers in the Newark, Delaware community tracking over 7,000 volunteer hours. Over 98% of the clients say Lori’s Hands has improved the quality of their life.

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SL24 UnLocke The Light Foundation Mental illness does not care if you were a college athlete or homecoming king.

For Sean Locke, depression did not read his resume or care how much hope or potential he had in his life. Sean was a part of everyone’s team, but despite his shining personality, he was not able to see out of the darkness. Sean lost his battle to depression on July 18, 2018 just a few weeks before his 24th birthday. In his spirit, the Locke family started the SL24 UnLocke the Light Foundation led by his father Chris Locke. One of the biggest accomplishments of the foundation was the 2020 opening of Sean’s House, located in the house where Sean lived while attending the University of Delaware and which is now open to anyone age 14-24 dealing with mental health challenges. It is open 24 hours a day and is staffed by a supervisor, UD students trained in peer support, three on-call doctoral students, a chief psychologist, and volunteers. Meanwhile, Chris Locke and other members of the SL24 Foundation have spoken to over 9,000 high school students about mental health and suicide prevention. Since their inception, the SL24 UnLocke the Light Foundation has raised over $975,000, impacted over 10,000 lives, and mobilized over 250 volunteers.

SoDel Cares SoDel Cares is the philanthropic arm of SoDel Concepts, which owns 12 coastal restaurants in Delaware, a consulting company, and a hospitality management company that pays tribute to their late founder, Matt Haley, a 2014 recipient of the Jefferson Award. SoDel Cares’ main priority is to support local organizations that assist children, at-risk youth and adults, and the elderly. In addition, the primary mission of SoDel Cares is to contribute in a positive way to the communities where they do busines. During 2020, they were unable to hold their annual fundraising events to raise money. So they instead turned their efforts to Giving Tuesday on December 1st where 100% of the proceeds from their 12 restaurants’ in-house and carryout sales raised over $101,000 for local charities. Since 2015, SoDel Cares has raised and donated over $525,000 to individuals and non-profit organizations in southern Delaware.

OUTSTANDING GLOBAL, NATIONAL, OR LOCAL SERVICE BY A YOUNG AMERICAN Krish Malhorta Krish Malhotra has served as an influential member of the organization Global Youth H.E.L.P., a non-profit organization that trains young people to become leaders in their communities through service. He has taken his passion for serving homeless veterans from stories he heard of his grandfather serving in the military and has created annual projects to support this population. Through his projects, he has donated over 75 coats and 50 care packages to the Homeless Veteran Center in Wilmington. In addition, Krish has also taken action to run a backpack and school supply drive to support disadvantaged youth in and around the City of Wilmington.

His intentions through all his service work has been to improve the lives of other individuals and he intends to keep on doing this work annually for years to come.

Krish is a senior at Tower Hill School.

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Jacqueline Means Jacqueline Means noticed a lack of programs geared towards science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), and decided to do something about it by founding the Wilmington Urban STEM Initiative. Jacqueline, aka The STEM Queen, started the initiative with the purpose of empowering girls in her community and increase their interest in STEM through her innovative STEM education program and the Girls Empowerment STEM events. At these events she introduces girls to a variety of STEM activities including hands-on science experiments and encouraging talks from prominent women with the hope to excite and inspire them. With only 29% of the STEM workforce being female, it is Jacqueline’s mission to motivate girls to believe that they can one day be a successful scientist, tech specialist, engineer or mathematician. Through her Science Party programs, speaking engagements, and events, Jacqueline has impacted over 2,000 Wilmington girls to learn more about STEM and consider science in their future. Jacqueline is a graduate of Delaware Military Academy and is currently a University of Delaware freshman, studying neuroscience.

Christian Miller During the summer of 2020, Christian saw the need for food in the community and so he, along with two friends, decided to do something about it. Between July and August, Christian raised over $3,000 through a Facebook fundraiser and collected $1,000 worth of donated food. He chose the Latin American Community Center (LACC) in Wilmington as their beneficiary when he learned that the impact of the pandemic on the Hispanic community and that just $50 could feed a family for a week. Taking action made Christian feel he was part of the community effort to alleviate the effects of the pandemic and allowed him to direct his energy towards something productive. It made him feel like he was doing something to combat COVID-19 by helping those the pandemic hit the hardest and to connect with neighbors in his community. Christian is a senior at Archmere Academy.

OUTSTANDING SERVICE BY A HIGH SCHOOL St. Elizabeth High School St. Elizabeth High School Vikings in Action earned a Gold Banner and is the Delaware regional winner of Public Service Pitch Day for their work to support a local organization called Harper’s Heart. The St. Elizabeth team met Giovanna Andrews, the founder of Harper’s Heart, several years ago and a lasting friendship was formed. While they had planned a school wide collection of baby essentials in the spring of 2020, the team had to cancel the event when the state went into lockdown at the beginning of the global pandemic. This schoolyear, the team was more determined than ever to honor their commitment to Harper’s Heart and held a school wide collection while still operating under a hybrid school model. The team developed a plan to build excitement including a promotional video from Giovanna, engaged each class with a specific set of goals, and set up pack-n-plays as an effective visual reminder for students to drop off donations. Through their team’s perseverance and creativity, the student body responded with overwhelming generosity and the Vikings in Action collected over 850 baby items to support Harper’s Heart. The St. Elizabeth High School Vikings in Action team plans to continue to support Harper’s Heart and expand their collection as well as deepen their service in the future.

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LEGACY AWARD Food Bank of Delaware For the past 40 years Delawareans have been able to turn to the Food Bank of Delaware when they were in need. The Food Bank’s mission is to provide nutritious foods to Delawareans in need and facilitate long-term solutions to the problems of hunger and poverty through community education and advocacy. In addition to their drive-up Healthy Pantry Centers in Newark and Milford, they also have a Backpack Program that provides year-round food to children in need over weekends, holidays and when school is not in session. They provide nutrition education, mobile pantries, school pantries in over 40 schools around the state in partnership with the Harry K Foundation, and provide a benefits assistance program to help individuals apply for help with SNAP and WIC benefits. Their Delaware Food Works Program includes catering, a farm and farm stand where they sell the produce they grow, culinary school, pre-employment training, community supported agriculture (CSA) program, ServSafe food safety training, and warehouse logistics training which is all part of their workforce development initiative. Each year, the Food Bank of Delaware donates 9 million pounds of food to more than 121,000 food-insecure Delawareans.

Since March 2020, while weathering its own COVID-19 challenges, the Food Bank of Delaware shifted from serving underprivileged communities to serving our whole state. During the pandemic, they saw over 164,000 Delawareans struggling with food insecurity which is up more than 43,000 since 2019. Now a year into the pandemic the Food Bank of Delaware has distributed over 17 million pounds of food, which is almost double the previous year. Over the past year they have held 33 mass drive-through food distribution events feeding over 42,000 households. On average each event has served over 1,200 and during one of their highest distribution events, they served over 2,200 households. They had over 34,000 visits to their Healthy Food Pantry Centers in Newark & Milford, donated over 167,000 weekend meal bags to children in need, distributed over 353,000 meals and snacks to the homeless living in motels, and have logged over 47,000 volunteer hours at their two sites. They have amplified their service during a time in our history when Delawareans needed them most. But the most important thing about the Food Bank of Delaware is that they will still be with us doing their work with passion, determination, and love for Delawareans, long after the pandemic is over.

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THANK YOU TO OUR GENEROUS DELAWARE CHAMPIONS, DONORS & SPONSORS: Advantage Marketing LLC Amanda Johnson Ayana Blount Bank of America Barclays Belfint, Lyons & Shuman, P.A. Celeste Fornicola Charlotte Miller-Lacy Chris Tabbert Christmas Shop Foundation Christy Mannering Cindy Pettinaro Wilkinson Claudia & Gary Simpson Connie Montana Covenant Wealth Strategies Dan & Susan Katzin Daniel Keever Dave & Angela Tiberi Delaware Community Foundation Discover Bank Doug Marino Duffield Associates Edie Dutcher Farnan Law Firm Gertrude Holland Guy & Tina Marcozzi Highmark Delaware Incyte Jayme Mitchell John Boykin

Kai Lassen Karen Stein Labware Lisa Westerfield Longwood Foundation Margaret & Chris Nasta Margarita Rodriguez-Duffy Mary Darby Michael Ashby Middle Run Foundation Mike & Jane Castle Monica McBride Nancy Donatucci New Castle County Government Patricia Curtin White & Family Rachel Sewell Ray Abbott Rob & Linda Harra Sandy Cleal Sarah Fanslau Shea Mullen Sue Cleal Sussex County Council Scott Champagne Scott Salisbury UnitedHealthcare Vizionary Wealth Management Wilmington University WSFS Community Foundation

To make a gift, please visit MultiplyingGood.org or make your donation now.

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For questions about the impact of your gift or to become a volunteer, contact Michele Fidance, Executive Director, at mfidance@multiplyinggood.org

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THE POWER OF SERVICE We believe individuals are transformed through service to others. Applying service as a tool for personal growth, we help people discover their ability to bring about positive change, deliver the skills they need to do it well, and, by validating their impact, inspire them to do more.

We’ve proven this continuum of activation, training, and recognition generates ripples of good.

THANK YOU FOR MULTIPLYING GOOD WITH US #CELEBRATEGOOD #DELAWARE4GOOD