When thousands of families stationed at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst were faced with food insecurity during the 43 days of the government shutdown last year, Sen. Troy Singleton (D-Burlington) stepped up.
Singleton not only raised money for the military families, but he handed out food and supplies on base.
He did for the active-duty military members — many of whom are in the 7th District he represents.
He did it for veterans — including his grandfather, a WWII veteran who has long served as an inspiration.
He did it for society — one seemingly bent on tearing down instead of building up.
“This environment we are in right now where it is easy to divide us; we should be reflective on the kind of service our veterans provide,” he said.
Singleton spoke after receiving a Lawmaker of the Year Award at the Veterans Business Summit last Friday at Brookdale Community College.
Singleton and U.S. Senator Cory Booker were honored for their advocacy and support for the Military and Veteran communities.
The awards were presented by CEO of the NJ State Veterans Chamber of Commerce, Col. Jeff Cantor, in front of a crowd of hundreds of Veterans and business leaders – people Cantor and the Chamber are working hard to help.
Cantor had nothing but praise for Singleton.
“He’s just an incredible human being,” he said.
A competitive one, too, it appears.
“We had a game; he would elbow me out of the way so he could go give out more food,” Cantor joked.
Singleton said his efforts spoke to a greater purpose.
“It is not about all the stuff that surrounds us, all of the superfluous things; it is about the mission in front of us,” he said. “That mission should be to make our country, our state and our communities better.”
Booker was awarded the 2026 Federal Lawmaker of the Year award for the over one million dollars he secured for the VFW of NJ and the 600-thousand-dollar grant awarded to the NJ State Veterans Chamber of Commerce to build a new procurement portal for Veteran and Disabled Veteran owned businesses.
Booker was unable to attend due to the senate being in session. He did send a video expressing his thanks and continued support for the veteran community.
