Steve 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.
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.’”
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.
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.”
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 one-on-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 about doing more in his second stint on the board, which began in November.
Jennifer Small, regional program director of the Maryland Food Bank - Eastern Shore Branch , says he fights hard for their region, stopping short of banging on the table.
“He was an important voice for the Shore, because the board has always tended to focus on central Maryland,” she explains. “He pointed out that the Shore doesn’t function in the same capacity. It’s very rural. He really brought to the board the theme of ‘local,’ and that we can’t treat the entire state as it runs like Baltimore.”
Schwalb agrees that his time on the state board brought overdue attention on the Eastern Shore’s needs.
“I was always an advocate for what we needed here and what was necessary because it is different than the rest of the state,” Schwalb says. “Some of the programs we had might work in an urban area, but not in a rural area like here. As we spread out from the Salisbury area, we had pockets of poverty we didn’t know about. It was a matter of awareness for the board.”
What first made Schwalb realize the disconnect between the estimated 30 to 40 percent of food that is thrown away in U.S. and the thousands of people who could benefit from it was the seven years of working with Virginia’s Blue Ridge Area Food Bank while he directed Perdue’s Virginia plant.
Bill See, Perdue’s senior manager of corporate communications and community relations, has seen Schwalb’s commitment in action over the years. The two have been friends for two decades.
“Hunger relief has always been a passion for Steve,” See says. “He was always engaged with what Purdue does with the Maryland Food Bank. He would always lead some of our efforts.”
Small adds: “Oh my gosh, Steve actually does this because of his love and passion for the work. He really believes in helping those who need a hand.”
