Care Sack lunches delivered to Serve Moses Lake
Over 5500 lunches have been made to feed those in need
For Goodness Sake Food & DrinkFor the past 21 months, a group of volunteers gathers every Tuesday evening to make sack lunches for those in need. The group varies from week to week but they show up, take their places and begin the assembly process. Spreading peanut butter onto bread (donated from the Food Bank), spreading jelly (often donated from Grocery Outlet), putting the sandwiches together, cutting each sandwich, putting into sandwich bags…meanwhile, others get the 60 sacks ready, filling them with applesauce or a fruit cup, a sweet snack like a granola bar or a rice Krispy treat and a salty snack, often popcorn or potato chips (donated from the Washington State Potato Commission).
It definitely takes a village, from local businesses and individuals making financial donations to purchase supplies to the volunteers who give of their time, usually only 30 minutes, to make it all happen. All this to help those less fortunate in our community. These volunteers include retirees, business people, teachers, as well as softball teams and those new to volunteering in their community.
These 60 lunches made every week are delivered to Serve Moses Lake every Wednesday morning and often times people are waiting for their arrival. The lunches will be handed out on Wednesday and Thursday at Serve Moses Lake to those who request something to eat. There’s another group of volunteers who make lunches for Monday and Tuesday.
Serve Moses Lake is a Christian based non-profit organization made up of the Moses Lake Ministerial Association churches. It was designed to enable the local body of Christ to serve those in need in the best way possible. Anyone in Moses Lake with a need may come through for an intake appointment where their need is assessed and verified. They are then connected to a local church and/or a local help agency for the need to be met. Serve Moses Lake offers a full range of services to meet the spiritual, physical and emotional needs of Moses Lake residents through a coordinated intake site.
Serve Moses Lake has been giving out lunches to those in need for years and typically gets requests from 25-30 people a day, Monday through Thursday that they’re open. Often volunteers are surprised at the number of lunches given out or that there are that many people who are in need in our community. Sometimes we don’t “see” the need, but if we open our eyes it’s there. Often time the request and need for lunches go up in the summer when kids are out of school.
Care Sack organizer, Michaelle Boetger, says “I love organizing and planning things, doing research, figuring out how to make things happen and thought this was a project I could take on that would really have an impact on those in need. I knew this would be more than just making sandwiches and putting lunches together, I needed a team to help make it happen. Thankfully, so many have stepped up and have given financial donations to the program and we’ve been able to continue to give back.
In order to keep this program going, we need to continue the community’s support, we need financial donations that allow us to purchase food items, each sack lunch costs about $1.25 so every dollar makes a huge difference. Can you ask your employer to make a donation? Perhaps you, your family or co-workers would volunteer 30 minutes of your time to make lunches on a Tuesday evening at 5:10 pm. Lunches are made at Youth Dynamics at 106 E. Third Avenue downtown, across from Washington Federal Bank. If you’re interested in volunteering please go ‘like’ our Facebook page and sign-up under the ‘Events’ tab. This will give us an idea of how many people to expect, only about six volunteers are actually needed each week.
Even purchasing an extra jar of peanut butter next time you’re at the grocery store helps so much.
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THANK YOU to: Youth Dynamics for letting us use their kitchen and storage area; Grocery Outlet, Community Services of Moses Lake (Food Bank), Takata, Inland Cellular, Dr. Mike & Mary Graham, Sarah Bullinger, Granco Federal Credit Union, Frank’s Market, Columbia Basin Machine, Penhallurick’s True Value, Mr. Charles Schwab, Dawn’s on the Way, Moses Lake Steel Supply, Fawn Conner, Former Mrs. Washington Contestants (Amy Dana & Susanne Paterson), Western Polymer, TCC, Mary Jane’s, Robert Schiffner, Ag World, Serve Moses Lake, Tyco, Inc., Dr. Rory Knapp, DDS; UPS Store, Lioness Club of Moses Lake, Chris Romm, Kerri Richins, Kathryn Trumbell, Susan Pyle; Dina Smith, Larry & Brandi Bunten, Sid & Mary Gregory, Rock Top Burgers & Brew, Washington State Potato Commission, Verizon/TCC, Debra Greeno, Monroe House Senior Living, Loye Husnaker, Artgarden Pottery, Karen & Earl Short, Christina Manly, Power Partners of Grant County, April Adams, and some anonymous donors as well.