Felicia McNeil, Sharon Lipscomb, Dione D’Arrigo and All School Food Workers: COVID-19 Food Heroes

by NYC Food Policy Editor

Why They’re Food Heroes: Among about three thousand other kitchen staff workers at New York City public schools, McNeil, Lipscomb, and D’Arrigo worked hard to provide meals to families in need throughout the summer of 2020. The New York Times reported that summer meal production more than doubled in 2020, from 180,000 to 420,000 per day, and school food workers worried about “cooking in hot, poorly ventilated and crowded kitchens while wearing masks, as well as their ever-increasing workload. But most of all, they said, they are worried about infection.” Public school grab-and-go meals have kept thousands of New York City families fed throughout the worst months of the pandemic. 

Background: McNeil lives in St. Albans, Queens, and works at the Campus Magnet High School in Cambria Heights, Queens. Lipscomb has worked for 22 years at schools in Brooklyn. D’Arrigo works at Tottenville High School in Staten Island.

Work: McNeil, Lipscomb, and D’Arrigo are food service workers. D’Arrigo told the New York Times, “I want to go back. I love the job. I live and breathe school food. I’m so delighted to get up in the morning and deliver food and feed children who really rely on it. But I’m afraid.”

Location: New York City Public Schools

Awards, Praise and Honors: McNeil and Lipscomb were featured in a New York Times article in September 2020 about school food workers.

Resources and References:

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