TERCELL WILSON
Ask his colleagues, ask his supervisor, and they all say the same thing: Tercell Wilson gets the job done.
“He doesn’t know what sick days are,” said John McCombs, director of Earthen Vessels Outreach.
Wilson is the director of operations and kitchen management for EVO, or Earthen Vessels Outreach, a faith-based non-profit organization in Friendship, on South Pacific Avenue. At the outset of the COVID pandemic in 2020, when everything was closed and no one knew what the future would look like, Wilson and his teammates at EVO prepared and delivered 1,700-1,900 healthy meals per day to families in many Pittsburgh communities, particularly on the East End.
Wilson’s colleague at EVO, Assegid Hafebo, told the New Pittsburgh Courier he “admired the willingness of the people around me, especially Tercell…he was the one who organized the meals.”
Hafebo, EVO’s curriculum director for before and after-school programs and summer camps, was the person who nominated Wilson for the inaugural Fred Rogers Institute Helper Award.
Wilson, along with 13 others, won the award, which had hundreds of nominations from around the country. In addition to Wilson, five other award winners are from Pennsylvania: Rev. Cornell Jones, director of street outreach for the City of Pittsburgh; Lisa Thompson, special education paraprofessional in the Bethel Park School District; Rebecca Hutzell, elementary learning support teacher at Shanksville-Stony Creek Elementary; John Storey Jr., deputy fire chief, North Strabane Fire Department; and Marla Pettit, the founder/director of North Pittsburgh Children’s House in Gibsonia.
Wilson and Rev. Jones were the only two African Americans to win the award.
The Fred Rogers Institute Helper Award was made to honor and recognize the people who care for children and communities in extraordinary ways in their daily and professional lives. The awards were launched this year, 2023, in honor of the 20th anniversary of the Fred Rogers Institute.
Fred Rogers is beloved for his tireless contributions to the betterment of young people throughout the world, whom he reached through the iconic “Mister Rogers Neighborhood” TV show, which was produced at WQED-TV in Oakland.
For Hafebo, it’s Wilson’s work ethic that is out of this world. “It doesn’t matter it it’s a job that requires him to take trash out, or peel carrots to make food, or deliver food, he does it without saying, ‘it’s beneath me,’” Hafebo said.
“A tireless work ethic,” added McCombs.
A typical day for Wilson starts with his top job —being a father. Wilson is married with two children. Wilson then heads to the grocery store to purchase the healthy foods needed to be cooked at Earthen Vessels for the after-school programs that the organization hosts not only at its location, but also for three sites: Mt. Ararat Community Activity Center (East Liberty), Brothers And Sisters Emerging (BASE) (Garfield), and Neighborhood Academy (Stanton Heights).
Wilson cooks the food and prepares it to be delivered to those three sites, serving about 120 students with dinner for the afternoon/evening. Another 50 students come to Earthen Vessels in its after-school program daily, and they also receive meals.
During the summer, Wilson’s load increases to meals for 500-600 kids per day. The meals are free for all the students.
The Fred Rogers Institute Helper Award was presented to Wilson on Oct. 24 at Earthen Vessels.
“It was definitely overwhelming to be doing something to give back to the community (and getting an award for it),” Wilson, a Miami native who’s lived in Pittsburgh for decades, told the Courier in an exclusive interview. “I always felt it was something that God was calling us to do…to be able to be in that position to provide for families.”