The Save Mart here in Patterson made it possible for generous residents to help their neighbors in need over the holidays, and the store recently turned those donations over to the local food bank, the West Side Food Pantry.
When West Side Food Pantry president Elisa Yvanes and treasurer Ruby Herrera approached Save Mart store manager Luke Houston about donations, Houston suggested the sales of “meal tickets.”
Through the company’s Give, Share, Care program, the store sold meal tickets during November and December. Through the Food Pantry, a $2 donation provides breakfast for a hungry person in our community; $3 will feed him or her lunch and a $5 donation will provide dinner.
Shoppers donated generously, and on Thursday, February 8, Save Mart store manager Luke Houston presented the food bank with a check for $2,056.
That works out to just over 411 dinners, about 685 lunches, or 1,028 breakfasts.
Houston said he had run the same program at the Save Mart store in Riverbank last year, although part of the money donated went to Second Harvest, an organization that works with nonprofits who feed those in need county-wide.
He was very pleased to have been able to duplicate it here, particularly when he learned that all of the money received during the drive could be earmarked for Patterson.
The company also offers employees an opportunity to volunteer their time. Two employees were on hand to help with the food distribution on Thursday.
The West Side Food Pantry was established in the basement of the Federated Church in 1972. It is a nonprofit organization, and everyone who works there volunteers their time and energy. Nearly all of the food is donated; the Salvation Army provides the rest.
The organization, which went through some leadership challenges a few years ago, lost a major grant that once provided a large portion of its annual budget. It is currently re-applying for that funding. In the meantime, it depends on the generosity of the community – and the tireless efforts of the volunteers.
Those volunteers, Alice Yvanes, president, Reyes Cuellar, vice president, and Ruby Herrera, treasurer, are extremely dedicated people who have seemingly accomplished the impossible: somehow, despite the huge financial loss, they have kept the doors open, and provided food and, occasionally, other things to those in the community who are most in need.
It would be difficult to witness the compassion these women show for the less fortunate of this community and not be moved.
They have even been known to go through their own closets in response to a particular need.
Herrera, for example, became aware of a little girl who needed shoes at the beginning of winter. The pantry, which accepts donations of any kind, did not have any at that time.
Herrera and her daughter decided to give the girl her daughter’s boots.
Yvanes, Cuellar and Herrera stay in close contact with one another, sharing excitement about the items the food bank receives.
“We have been very blessed with the community’s help,” Yvanes said, adding that they were excited to have been able to add turkeys to the food baskets families received during the holidays.
What these women have accomplished, as much through sheer determination as anything else, is astounding:
In 2017, the group fed 15,000 people.
“We couldn’t have done it without (the community’s) help,” Herrera said.
The pantry serves 40 to 60 families each week, with each family receiving commodities, meat, bread, juice, and other staples as they are available. Families can receive such assistance every eight weeks.
The food bank strives to keep stuffed animals and children’s books on hand, as well. The goal is for each child to receive a book or toy. “It makes their day,” Herrera said.
That, and the pizza, which a local restaurant donates.
The pantry staff also like to provide birthday cakes, although there have been times when they were needed and not available, Herrera said.
Upon hearing this, Houston immediately offered to provide them.
The West Side Food Pantry is open every Thursday from 1 to 3:30 p.m., and is located at 20 South Fifth Street, in the parking lot of the Federated Church building.
How you can help
Volunteers are always welcome at the West Side Food Pantry. Eight people are needed on Sundays to organize donations and stock shelves. Eight people are also needed on Thursdays, when food is distributed.
Donations of any kind are always welcome.
