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Food Bank Sunday, usually the first Sunday of each month
,
cannot happen the way it usually does tomorrow. But we still can contribute! In fact the need for food contributions is urgent right now.
Elder
Chris Calwell
initiated a conversation with some of us about how FPC might help with food contributions.
He suggested that first each of us needs to read
"A perfect storm":
U.S. facing hunger crisis as demand for food banks soars.
Food banks are reporting unprecedented demand across the US as millions lose jobs, investigation shows.
HERE'S
the article posted in The Guardian this past week. (Thank you, Chris!)
Then Chris wrote:
Dear All--
Feels like our church might be able to make a tangible difference in our community by helping on this issue in some way. What do you think?
Chris Calwell
He suggested a food drive "
where interested church members leave out a bag of groceries on their front porch and we pull together a couple interested volunteers to drive around, pick them up, and deliver them to the Food Bank."
In order to get started right now let's use the
front porch of the Church Office as our one "Food Bank Sunday" Drop-off location
all through this week.
By Easter we should be able to organize enough volunteers to pull off a Food Drive home pick-up operation like Chris is suggesting to start up later in the month or the first week of May. Can we all make this work?
A closer-to-home glimpse of Durango's food shortages was told to us by Elder
Ginny Miller-Cavanagh
:
One of my Rotary friends, Jeff Bleeker... told us today about a talk he had with the Manna Soup Kitchen staff:
"To follow are some things I was told by Shawnin and Rebecca. Before Covid they were severing about 150 meals per day, currently the are not doing dining room service but are handing out prepared meals in front to walk ups. They are now serving 400-500 meals PER DAY. This will likely increase as the crisis deepens. Also, the lunch program for children has exploded as schools are closed and children are stuck at home. The supplies that Manna purchases for this program from wholesalers such as Sisco foods are not able to provide the basics for them right now. Items like bulk pasta, canned goods, ramen noodle packs, etc are unavailable given the shortages. They need items including, potatoes, rice, peanut butter, fruit cups, granola bars, mayo, canned items and raw pasta. They currently have a small supply left in the warehouse but they will run out in April sometime if supplies are not replenished. The need for emergency food will only increase. "
Food designated for Manna can be delivered directly to the Soup Kitchen's loading dock (1100 Avenida Del Sol, Durango, CO 81301) most weekday mornings.
Call first (970)385-5095
Thank you, everyone, for anything you can do to help!
