We distribute food and clothing in the far southwest corner of Elk Grove
every second Friday of the month through our
Mobile Pantry program. We go out there because our Franklin
clients do not have access to transportation to travel to our Dino
Drive facility. Rosa and Dale loaded the truck with all the food and clothing to be distributed at Point Pleasant United Methodist Church.
The boxes were packed with bread, cereal, cooking oil, pasta, canned veggies, fresh produce and cookies. Rosa was so happy that she was able to gather enough packages of cookies to give our Franklin clients a treat.
We filled the multi-purpose room with food boxes, clothing, books, specialty canned goods and additional produce. Rosa arranged the tables so that our clients could take their time and look through and select what they needed.
Point Pleasant Church also provided our clients with some produce. These bags contain potatoes and cabbage from the Church; with chicken and other commodities from our USDA distribution.
Each client signed in and verified the number of people in their family. I heard many "ocho, " "siete," and "seis". Our clients in this program have families that are larger than what some consider average.
We served 28 families (141 individuals) last Friday.
Rosa and the youngest client at Franklin Mobile Pantry.
Many people help to distribute food to our Franklin clients. Patricia Ramos is the volunteer coordinator, she keeps track of the clients in our program and enlists volunteers to help with the distribution. Margarita Espinoza, Migrant Service Para-professional with the County, assisted our clients with the paper work. Esther Figueroa, volunteer, distributes bags of food. Don and Elsa Eliason, volunteers from Point Pleasant Church, provided carry-out service (Don) and informative workshops (Elsa).
During our drive out to Point Pleasant Church, we were amazed how quickly Elk Grove changed from shopping centers and subdivisions to rural farmland. It was our first time driving beyond the skating rink in Franklin. I did not realize that the United Methodist Church was located so close to I-5. We could see the freeway just beyond the community garden (available for use by our clients) that is located on Church property.
We enjoyed our time with our Franklin clients, although we do not speak the same language we were able to communicate with smiles and gestures. We brought back with us gratitude from our isolated clients. We look forward to serving them next month.
Mobile Pantry every second Friday at:
Point Pleasant United Methodist Church
3329 Point Pleasant Road
Elk Grove, CA 95757
