Schwalb ended up driving her to meetings, and, for lack of anything better to do, ended up sitting through some of them. “It got under my skin,” he recalls. “I thought, ‘This is a terrific organization. I should consider getting more involved.’”
Photography by Steve Buchanan
After about two years on the board, Lindsey became more involved in high school activities and decided to leave the board. So, her father took her place. He also spent time as director of the regional leadership council.
TOWNE SALUTE
Steve Schwalb
Maryland Food Bank, Eastern Shore
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By Tom Worgo
teve Schwalb first learned about the inner workings of the Eastern Shore Branch of the Maryland Food Bank through his daughter. Lindsey got involved in Food Bank program called “Kids Helping Kids” through her middle school and the organization’s board invited her to become their student board representative in 1998 after they read a guest column that the 12-year-old wrote about the issue of hunger.
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What’s Up? Eastern Shore | June 2020 | whatsupmag.com
That change came in 1999, and 21 years later, he’s still committed to the regional food bank, which distributes more than six million meals in the Eastern Shore’s eight counties each year. With Schwalb, the board brought in someone who already knew a lot about food. He spent 33 years as an executive for Perdue, including stretches as its vice president of operations and sustainability. For a time, he also headed Perdue’s turkey and cook business at a plant in Bridgewater, Virginia. All the while, he was active with the Eastern Shore Branch in Salisbury. “I’m 69 this year,” Schwalb says. “And when I look back and think about what I’m most proud of in my life, my affiliation with the food bank is one of the highlights. It really is.”
“I’m 69 this year. And when I look back and think about what I’m most proud of in my life, my affiliation with the food bank is one of the highlights. It really is.” Schwalb also served two stints on the Maryland Food Bank’s state-wide board and was also director of Eastern Shore relations for the regional food bank. What continues to move him the most are his oneon-one interactions with the food bank’s recipients. At times, he has spent three days a week handing out food. “It’s just a feeling that I always found hard to describe, but it warms me from the inside out,” says Schwalb, a long-time Salisbury resident who now lives in Ocean View, Delaware. “You can look in folks’ eyes and just see the thanks from them, and that you’re helping them out of a bind. It’s just so fulfilling to me.” Schwalb loves handing food to those short of a meal, but always has the needs of the entire Eastern Shore on his mind. He made a big impact as a member of the state-wide board from 2004 to 2015. Now, Schwalb, who holds a bachelor degree in industrial engineering from New York University, is excited
