Five hundred employees from JPMorgan Chase spent late last week packing 30,000 meals for children and seniors as part of Chase’s work in alleviating hunger in the First State.
The volunteer event took place as part of the Wilmington Grand Prix weekend festivities. While 200 cyclists competed in the event, Chase volunteers packed more than 4,000 bags of food for the Food Bank of Delaware’s children’s Backpack Program and more than 20,000 meals for seniors at risk of hunger.
The Backpacks will be distributed to area schools, while the senior meal boxes will be distributed to at-risk seniors through the Wilmington Senior Center and Ministry of Caring.
The packing event took more than three hours to complete.
“I am amazed by the number of meals packed by this great group of volunteers from Chase,” said Food Bank of Delaware CEO Patricia Beebe. “It really took teamwork to make sure all of the meals were completed in time. Chase’s commitment demonstrates that it takes an entire community to serve the one in four Delawareans who depend on our network of hunger-relief services.”
“In Delaware and across the country, Chase employees are passionate about helping their fellow community members and I’m proud to work beside them each and every day,” said Tom Horne, general manager at Chase Card Services
“This great event gave AARP an opportunity to increase awareness of the threat of hunger among older Delawareans,” said Lucretia Young, AARP state director. “We enjoyed the opportunity to collaborate with the Food Bank of Delaware and Chase to reach so many dedicated volunteers and others who want to help.”
Chase will organize a second meal packing event as part of the Dover race weekend festivities. On Sunday, June 2, race fans will pack 1,000 senior meal boxes inside the fan zone at Dover International Speedway.
ATK hosts students
The ATK Missile Products division in Elkton, Md. and the Delaware section of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) hosted an event for local school children in support of National Engineers Week (EWeek).
The purpose of EWeek is to celebrate the accomplishments of all engineers and to recognize the importance of the ongoing development of the next generation of engineers in the areas of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM).
The theme for EWeek this year was “Celebrating Awesome.” Throughout the week, competitions were geared to challenge the participant’s creative design skills and even included a Star Wars themed target competition.
As part of national “Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day (IGED),” eighth grade girls at the top of their class in math and science at Bohemia Manor Middle School in Chesapeake City, Md., were invited to meet with female engineers in various functional positions at ATK, including design, drafting, analysis and management. They designed and launched their own straw rockets, and witnessed two static rocket motor firings.
EWeek concluded with a Lunch and Learn presentation entitled “Your most AWESOME project,” which provided four senior ATK engineers with the opportunity to present the most awesome projects they had worked on at ATK and the audience determined the winner.
Honor for Easter Seals
Easter Seals Delaware and Maryland’s Eastern Shore is a recipient of a 2013 Inglis Award for Continuing Excellence.
The Inglis awards program honors the outstanding performance of not-for-profit organizations in the Greater Philadelphia region that enhance the quality of life for people with physical disabilities.
Easter Seals of Delaware and Maryland’s Eastern Shore was one of five organizations winning a $10,000 award. Award winners were honored at a ceremony in Philadelphia.
“Easter Seals Delaware & Maryland’s Eastern Shore is honored to be recognized for our work increasing independence and opportunities for people with disabilities,” said Easter Seals Board Chair, Cynthia Morgan. “We have been unwavering in our commitment to the mission to fully integrate people in their communities for over 60 years.”
