Government Support Services News

In the words of her director, this employee is being recognized for her "proactive and dedicated approach," her vigilance and extra efforts in providing valuable resources to Delaware's citizens, including school children. As a critical member of the food distribution team, she constantly monitors accessible programs, communicating with the USDA and their partners, to claim bonus goods turned away by other states in our region. Some of these goods went to local warehouses to support the National School Lunch Program and The Emergency Food Assistance Program, but the bulk of it goes directly to the Food Bank of Delaware, where it's distributed to the neediest. In 2023 alone, Delaware accepted an extra 4.7 million pounds of food for the Food Bank, all of which was turned away by other states. That figure was even higher in 2024, thanks to this employee's diligent service.

Greg Gilmore and Brian Thompson were personally thanked by the Governor for their heroic actions in rescuing a lost toddler. They saw a toddler wandering in the middle of the road. Accordingly, they took action, intervened and moved the child to safety. Just as they were about to contact emergency services, the child's mother appeared, looking for her missing child who had escaped through an unsecured house door. The mother, who was new to the area, was relieved to find her child unharmed. The text of the tribute that Greg and Brian received is below. Great job Greg and Brian!

On behalf of Delawareans across the First State, Governor Carney and Lieutenant Governor Hall-Long take great pleasure in recognizing Fleet Technician Greg Gilmore for taking action when he noticed a lost child wandering in the road during the course of his work assignments. With the help of his colleague, Brian Thompson, Mr. Gilmore was able to move the child to safety and reunite the child with their mother. This tribute brings with it sincere appreciation for his committed service to the State of Delaware and the Office of Management and Budget and for his heroic intervention on behalf of a Delaware child.

Jessica “Jessie” Durham has been with the State Messenger Services for 19 years. Over the course of the last year, we have put Jessie in a position to take more of a leadership role within the division and she has done an excellent job. Jessie is the go-to person for new stops looking to be added to our routes. She overviews the request and determines the best possible route to assign them to, as well as coordinating the days they will be getting mail service. This ensures optimizing efficiencies for the agency and the GSS Messenger Services operation.

Further, Jessie has taken the lead for many of our upstart projects. The biggest of the projects, is the assumption of Archives Delivery service. Agencies will contact us with requests retrieve storage boxes from their location and deliver the same to the Archives building in Dover for either storage or shredding. These can range from something as simple as 1 location and 10-15 boxes, to multiple locations with an upwards of 120 - 130 boxes that need to be collected. This variability requires our team to ensure adequate transportation, coordinate the retrieval and not directly impact existing customer expectations.

She has continued to be the main cover driver for our Kent and Sussex routes. If someone calls out, she fills in on the route needed. Jessie has also become our main trainer for Messenger Services. Any new hire is trained with her for their first two weeks to maintain consistency within our trainings of new hires. They will ride the assigned route with her, and then come back to the office where she will walk them through using the mail machines and how to meter, or sort mail accordingly.