Local
Food & Friends names new executive director
Stoltzfus to replace Shniderman at year’s end
Food & Friends, the D.C.-based nonprofit organization that has provided home-delivered meals to people with serious illnesses, including HIV and AIDS since 1988, announced on Tuesday that it has named Carrie Stoltzfus, its current deputy director, as its next executive director.
Stoltzfus will succeed Craig Shniderman, who has served as the organization’s executive director for nearly 24 years. Shniderman announced last December that he planned to step down from his executive director’s post on Dec. 31, 2018 to pursue “avocational interests and some new professional experiences” rather than retire.
Stoltzfus holds a master’s degree in public health from Johns Hopkins University. She has been with Food & Friends for 15 years. In her current role as deputy executive director her responsibilities include leading a team that oversees client services, volunteer services, nutrition, kitchen and groceries, and delivery, according to a statement released by Food & Friends.
“Carrie brings passion for our work, deep concern for our staff, volunteers, clients and donors, and respect for everyone who is a part of the Food & Friends family,” said Peter Glassman, president of the organization’s board and head of the search committee that selected Stoltzfus.
“Food & Friends Board of Directors undertook a vigorous national search for its next leader, with aid from search consultants at Russell Reynolds Associates who screened more than 100 applications,” the statement released by the group says. “After meeting a substantial number of outstanding candidates from around the country, the Board of Directors determined that the best candidate was within the organization and selected Carrie Stoltzfus on Sept. 13,” the statement says.
“I am excited to take on this new opportunity as Food & Friends continues to fill an essential role in our community and as it evolves to work in lockstep with the broader public health sector to serve even more of our Washington area neighbors,” Stoltzfus said in the statement.
The group says it currently prepares and delivers nearly one million meals each year to clients free of charge across 5,300 square miles in a region that includes D.C., Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia. The group says over 5,500 volunteers help it serve more than 2,800 people annually.
Photos
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Gay Men’s Chorus, local drag artists have featured performance at ceremony
The 41st Helen Hayes Awards were held at The Anthem on Monday, May 19. Felicia Curry and Mike Millan served as the hosts.
A performance featuring members of the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington and local drag artists was held at the end of the first act of the program to celebrate WorldPride 2025.
The annual awards ceremony honors achievement in D.C.-area theater productions and is produced by Theatre Washington.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
District of Columbia
Laverne Cox, Reneé Rapp, Deacon Maccubbin named WorldPride grand marshals
Three LGBTQ icons to lead parade
WorldPride organizers announced Thursday that actress and trans activist Laverne Cox, powerhouse performer Reneé Rapp, and LGBTQ trailblazer Deacon Maccubbin will serve as grand marshals for this year’s WorldPride parade.
The Capital Pride Alliance, which is organizing WorldPride 2025 in Washington, D.C., revealed the honorees in a press release, noting that each has made a unique contribution to the fabric of the LGBTQ community.
Cox made history in 2014 as the first openly transgender person nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award in an acting category for her role in Netflix’s “Orange Is the New Black.” She went on to win a Daytime Emmy in 2015 for her documentary “Laverne Cox Presents: The T Word,” which followed seven young trans people as they navigated coming out.
Rapp, a singer and actress who identifies as a lesbian, rose to prominence as Regina George in the Broadway musical “Mean Girls.” She reprised the role in the 2024 film adaptation and also stars in Max’s “The Sex Lives of College Girls,” portraying a character coming to terms with her sexuality. Rapp has released an EP, “Everything to Everyone,” and an album, “Snow Angel.” She announced her sophomore album, “Bite Me,” on May 21 and is slated to perform at the WorldPride Music Festival at the RFK Festival Grounds.
Deacon Maccubbin, widely regarded as a cornerstone of Washington’s LGBTQ+ history, helped organize D.C.’s first Gay Pride Party in 1975. The event took place outside Lambda Rising, one of the first LGBTQ bookstores in the nation, which Maccubbin founded. For his decades of advocacy and activism, he is often referred to as “the patriarch of D.C. Pride.”
“I am so honored to serve as one of the grand marshals for WorldPride this year. This has been one of the most difficult times in recent history for queer and trans people globally,” Cox said. “But in the face of all the rhetorical, legislative and physical attacks, we continue to have the courage to embrace who we truly are, to celebrate our beauty, resilience and bravery as a community. We refuse to allow fear to keep us from ourselves and each other. We remain out loud and proud.”
“Pride is everything. It is protection, it is visibility, it is intersectional. But most importantly, it is a celebration of existence and protest,” Rapp said.
The three will march down 14th Street for the WorldPride Parade in Washington on June 7.
2025 D.C. Trans Pride was held at Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library on Saturday, May 17. The day was filled with panel discussions, art, social events, speakers, a resource fair and the Engendered Spirit Awards. Awardees included Lyra McMillan, Pip Baitinger, Steph Niaupari and Hayden Gise. The keynote address was delivered by athlete and advocate Schuyler Bailar.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
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