Every Monday since the start of our Shelter in Place order, we have been helping out with food distribution for local families in need. The process has been lovingly coordinated by a long-time teacher at Casa Grande High School. While she has been making this happen for quite some time, the need has only grown as many people have lost their jobs. We provide food for approximately 60 families each week. Much of the food is donated from local stores and restaurants and additional food is purchased with cash and gift card donations. Families usually receive 3 grocery bags full of essentials; fruits and vegetables, bread, pantry staples like pasta and beans, meats, eggs, and treats. We have also been able to supply families with toilet paper and sanitizer each week.
Sometimes we are tasked with filling bags. It is an amazingly organized, stream-lined system where each person has a specific bag to pack and then moves it along the line. Everyone participating wears a mask and gloves. Lucy is great at running the bags to the driveway and sorting them in preparation for the drivers to pick them up. She is also the go-to person for adding the toilet paper to the bags at the end. We are also assigned the job of taking the broken-down boxes to Casa Grande where we use their large recycle bins. It's amazing how many small details are so important in a process like this.
We are fortunate enough to have two full-sized refrigerators at our house, so most weeks we store the donated meat in our garage freezer to keep it fresh for the following Monday's delivery.
Around lunch time on Mondays, we load up the back of our car and get ready to make deliveries. We are given our spreadsheet with a list of 8 addresses to deliver to. The list has been strategically organized by neighborhoods, making the delivery process very efficient. We unload bags on the porch, knock on the door, and head back to the car; the process is completely contact-free.
Trey can't always join us because his school time actually starts at 12:30 but some weeks his History teacher gives him a pass to miss his Zoom class. Lucy is always eager to help and hasn't missed a Monday. Eddy is often given some of the heavy lifting jobs and he does the driving when we make deliveries.
Many of the people who help out each week are Casa Grande students, some are Casa Grande graduates. I feel blessed to be a part of such a loving and giving community.
Sincerely,
Grete K. Hansen
Sometimes we are tasked with filling bags. It is an amazingly organized, stream-lined system where each person has a specific bag to pack and then moves it along the line. Everyone participating wears a mask and gloves. Lucy is great at running the bags to the driveway and sorting them in preparation for the drivers to pick them up. She is also the go-to person for adding the toilet paper to the bags at the end. We are also assigned the job of taking the broken-down boxes to Casa Grande where we use their large recycle bins. It's amazing how many small details are so important in a process like this.
We are fortunate enough to have two full-sized refrigerators at our house, so most weeks we store the donated meat in our garage freezer to keep it fresh for the following Monday's delivery.
Around lunch time on Mondays, we load up the back of our car and get ready to make deliveries. We are given our spreadsheet with a list of 8 addresses to deliver to. The list has been strategically organized by neighborhoods, making the delivery process very efficient. We unload bags on the porch, knock on the door, and head back to the car; the process is completely contact-free.
Trey can't always join us because his school time actually starts at 12:30 but some weeks his History teacher gives him a pass to miss his Zoom class. Lucy is always eager to help and hasn't missed a Monday. Eddy is often given some of the heavy lifting jobs and he does the driving when we make deliveries.
Many of the people who help out each week are Casa Grande students, some are Casa Grande graduates. I feel blessed to be a part of such a loving and giving community.
Sincerely,
Grete K. Hansen
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