2022 - A Year of Empowerment by the LCS Community

LCS was there for our community this year as families faced financial, food, and health insecurity. We continued to innovate and serve by providing record levels of emergency financial assistance, meeting
the need at our pantries, delivering food and personal hygiene items to senior high rises, expanding the Delaware Food Farmacy, and doing statewide outreach for the Delaware Quitline.

In 2022, LCS was the leading Community Navigation Partner for the Delaware State Housing Authority. We assisted individuals and families with the emergency financial assistance they needed and did so at record levels for our organization. It is a testament to our dedicated staff and the tremendous need that exists.

Food insecurity in our community continues at an unacceptable level. A recent study now estimates that 60% of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck. As a result, skipping meals and being able to afford only processed and unhealthy food is the sad reality for many.

The pantry at St. Stephen’s is open 5 days a week and does an amazing job of helping people! LCS added senior high-rise food and personal hygiene item deliveries this year, and the Unity Church pantry now has evening hours. We are actively exploring school based pantries as an expansion to our pantry services.

Over 15% of Delawareans still smoke, and vaping is becoming increasingly popular among youth. The estimated smoking-related health care costs in our state are $532 million per year. As part of our commitment to the health and wellbeing of our community, LCS partners with the Delaware Quitline to educate and promote services that help people quit smoking.

Partnering with ChristianaCare, the Delaware Food Farmacy helps Medicaid eligible patients who have struggled to manage their chronic health issues by delivering medically tailored food and surrounding them with focused health care support.

Participating patients had dietary improvements in calcium and fiber intake, important for blood pressure and diabetes control. HbA1c decreased among diabetics and systolic and diastolic blood pressure decreased among hypertensive patients. Patients improved weight and BMI, and reported lower levels of anxiety and depression.

As always, Volunteers are truly the heart of our organization. We couldn't do any of our work without them, and appreciate everything they do. If you volunteered with us, or supported us in other ways, THANK YOU!

Our Volunteer Appreciation event this year was at Frawley Stadium and the Wilmington Blue Rocks! Despite the weather, we were so happy to welcome everyone for an evening of fun and BBQ!

In 2022, the LCS Hunger Walk/Run broke our all time fundraising record, set in just the previous year! We raised $73,982.39 thanks to all of you!!

An extra thank you to Denise Gray, Lilly Derrickson, and the rest of the  team at Concordia for being our hosts!

We also received support from a number of local business and organizations!  For more information on all of our supporters, check out our supporters page!

In 2022, LCS added capacity by hiring three new team members - Ayesha Bailey, Steph Hall, and Amanda Millard! 

Ayesha Bailey joined us as Health Program Outreach Manager to manage our Smoking Cessation program and outreach to the community. You can find Ayesha at an event near you, there to reach out with all the Quitline information you need to quit smoking. 

Stephanie Hall originally came to us as an Intern, but it was a match made in heaven and so she stayed on as our Referrals Coordinator! She now assists incoming clients and manages referrals, as well as supporting all our other programs.  

Amanda Millard is our new Office Manager, and she assists with onboarding volunteers and the day-to-day management of our office. She has been doing a great job at supporting our programs, and giving our office a facelift. 

Speaking of our office, check out the new look below! 

In 2022, we had a diverse revenue stream, and operated at a surplus for the year. This enables funds for building maintenance, program development, and an operating reserve.