Assembling food boxes for deserving families goes beyond abating hunger; every facet nurtures at a deeper level.
Established in 2012, Assistance League of Diablo Valley’s Community Programs includes seven programs that meet a range of community needs. Food Boxes, which provides groceries for families who run out of food at the end of the month, is one of these programs.
In preparing for Thanksgiving, Food Boxes Committee members selected such nutritious items as canned hams, tamales, green beans, canned yams, turkey stuffing and gravy, instant potatoes, canned pineapple chunks, peanut butter, jelly, pancake mix and cereal. Everyday needs such as laundry detergent, dish soap, toothpaste and bath soap completed the inventory. Once delivered to the Assistance League facility in Walnut Creek, its large conference room became an assembly line workplace.
The next phase involved the Assistance League of Diablo Valley’s Corporate Partners project, which enlists hands-on and financial help from members of local businesses and civic organizations. Employee volunteers from the City of Walnut Creek requested that they help put food on the table on Thanksgiving Day for families who run out of food near the end of the month. On November 14, Corporate Partners Committee Co-Chairmen Linda Mercer and Pam Pitts welcomed seven employee volunteers. Following an overview concerning the chapter’s ten philanthropic programs and their impact on the community, volunteers methodically broke down cartons and assembled and filled 60 boxes with the abovementioned items in record time.
The third phase, distribution, engaged the Contra Costa County Service Integration Program that, with the help of CAL WORKS, delivered 30 filled boxes to both Richmond and Bay Point Family Service Centers, a mere 30 minutes from Walnut Creek. The entire process went beyond providing meals to give thanks. While the food obviously abated hunger, it celebrated a community awareness and support that nurtured at a deeper level.
To learn more about the Corporate Partners Program and the hands-on philanthropic programs primarily funded by the Assistance League Way Side Inn Thrift Shop in Lafayette, please visit the website: assistanceleague.org/diablo-valley.
