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Even a pandemic can’t stop Retail Business Services’ – the services company of Ahold Delhaize USA – commitment to inspiring the next generation of grocery retail professionals. On Thursday, associates and their families gathered for a virtual celebration of Take Your Child to Work Day – an annual event to provide children with hands-on experience of what it is like to work in their parents’ industry. To accommodate virtual and in-person school schedules, the events were scheduled after school hours.

Associates were invited to print out a custom activity book for their child to complete throughout the day. Activities included coloring pages, word searches, fill-in-the-sentence prompts, a “build your resume” activity and more.

Kicking off the afternoon of fun events was a family game of virtual bingo. Children were asked to raise their hand if they considered themselves a good dancer, enjoyed family meals or had gone skydiving. Just like regular bingo, five hand-raises in a row was the key to winning the game.  

Next, children explored careers in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) with guest author Tiffani Teachey. Tiffani read from her best-selling children’s book “What Can I Be? STEM Careers A to Z,” and asked listeners to think about fields they would like to contribute to. The book explored different careers – from doctor to civil engineer to zoologist. Tiffani is a senior mechanical engineer herself, and she said her desire to inspire a love of engineering in young people is what led her to write her book.

“I always enjoyed going to talk to kids about engineering, and I thought, ‘Why don’t I put it in writing?’ I love to share about all that kids can be,” she said.

She hopes the book inspired listeners to consider pursuing careers in STEM.

“I want you to see all the different careers there are in STEM, so hopefully you saw a career you can see yourself in,” she said after reading her book

Attendees were bubbling with questions and asked how they could apply interests in other areas, such as cooking, toy-making and law to STEM fields.

To wrap up the day, children practiced their cooking skills with Chef Victoria Elizabeth, an accomplished high school sophomore who has honed her culinary skills for more than a decade and created her own TV show: Victoria’s Kitchen. Chef Victoria Elizabeth is the daughter of Retail Business Services Communications Manager Valencia Seals.

Chef Victoria Elizabeth showed kids how they could experiment with recipes at home and make yummy meals while reducing food waste.

“Today is Earth Day, so we’re going to be learning how to not waste our leftovers and use them to make a delicious dish,” she said.

Extra sauces, meats and veggies can be combined to make delicious homemade pizzas, and extra fruit and snack materials can make “funny face” desserts on top of a graham cracker.

During her cooking lesson, Chef Victoria Elizabeth also inspired children to pursue their dreams.

“If you have a dream, go chase it! No one can tell you different,” she said.