NCAE’s own Turquoise Lejeune Parker, NEA director and vice president of the Durham Association of Educators (DAE), has been honored by President Biden for her leadership in the community for starting the “Bull City Food-Raiser“ in 2015.
Turquoise started the program because she saw so many families struggling to put food on the table, especially once school was out. What began as collecting and distributing food to her students has turned into raising more than $500,000 and feeding more than 5,000 families in the Durham community.
Last month, Turquoise was awarded a Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award and medallion. This ultimate honor of presidential recognition is given to those who contribute more than 4,000 hours of service in their lifetime. “This honor is overwhelming,” said Turquoise, media specialist at Lakewood Elementary School. “I am just grateful for all of the people, and places, and things and organizations that really poured into me. I don’t do this by myself.”
In addition to this national recognition, Turquoise and her husband, Donald, made an appearance on the NBC hit show “The Wall,” where the couple had an opportunity to big money. The show spotlights people who do incredible work in their communities. The episode featuring Turquoise and Donald aired Friday, November 10.
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