A Mid-Summer Update from The Stand DE

Summer is moving quickly, and I wanted to take a moment to share what's been happening at The Stand DE and where we're headed next.

This past Sunday, we had the opportunity to serve families at the Marshall STEAM Museum, and we had a great time being part of the experience. If you missed us, don't worry. We'll be back every first Sunday through November, serving great food while families enjoy a day of exploration, creativity, and hands-on learning at the museum. Admission is $15 per adult and $10 per child. If you're looking for a fun family outing, we hope you'll stop by, grab a bite from The Stand DE, and support our mission while you're there. Every purchase helps us continue creating workforce development and leadership opportunities in our community.

This week is also bittersweet because it's our final week with the Teen Warehouse summer participants. Although this opportunity was temporary, it reminded me why I started this work in the first place. This is our first time working directly with youth since 2023, and it has been refreshing to get back into the field. Training, coaching, observing growth, and watching confidence develop has reminded me that this is where I'm meant to be. This experience has also given me greater clarity. It helped me identify what's working, what needs to be improved, and how I want to continue building The Stand DE's Hospitality & Leadership Lab. One thing I've learned is that workforce development isn't just about helping someone get a job. It's about helping people build confidence, communicate professionally, solve problems, work as a team, and discover what they're capable of. Those lessons happen one training, one customer interaction, and one opportunity at a time.

As this chapter comes to a close, another one is beginning. This week, I'll be meeting with the Workforce Development Council to discuss workforce programming and potential funding opportunities. I also connected with City Council to better understand the process for securing local funding to support our work. Our mobile food operations have given us a real-world training ground and have carried much of our income up to this point. But that's changing. My vision is to build a fully operational workforce development program, supported through grants, sponsorships, and community partnerships, that becomes our primary source of income and impact. Our mobile units won't disappear. They'll continue serving as a hands-on training environment. But they won't be what sustains us. The program will be the mission at the forefront, not just the vehicle carrying it.

This season feels different. I'm not just thinking about the next event or the next catering order. I'm building the foundation for a workforce development program that can serve our community for years to come. Thank you to everyone who has booked us, visited one of our mobile units, partnered with us, shared our story, or simply cheered us on from the sidelines. Your support is helping us build something much bigger than food. We're building futures.

Thank you for being part of the journey!