Source: NCDA&CS, 8/25/21


This past spring, when Gary Gay retired as the director of the Food Distribution Division after 36 years with NCDA&CS, the division staff wanted to celebrate his retirement with a special gift. That gift also turned into a way to honor another long-time employee.

They created the Gary W. Gay Award of Excellence as a way to remember Gay’s contribution to the Department of Agriculture and the division. Gay decided that the first award should be one of distinction, given to honor Bob Sitton. Sitton was the division’s assistant director who had retired just a few months earlier after more than 20 years with the Department of Agriculture.

The new award is an evolution of an honor that Gay and his staff started in 2018. It was a “best practices” award honoring a school and/or a school district for its use of USDA commodity foods and Farm to School foods that are shipped through the division. Upon Gay’s retirement, the staff decide to rename the award as the Gary Gay Award of Excellence.

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