Donating to food pantries during COVID-19
LCO, April 2020
When Lighthouse Center Oregon (LCO) decided to help during the COVID-19 pandemic, our first connection was with Roseburg’s Fish Food Pantry, the biggest food pantry in Douglas County, Oregon. They told us that bread and other food items were already in short supply. And they were bracing themselves for extra demand on their services throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
Without hesitation, LCO stepped up to make bread, soup, and desserts to help the food pantry. We baked extra-large family-sized loaves and individually wrapped desserts. Our wholesome organic soups are packed into pint-sized containers and frozen so that people can take them home to reheat and eat. In the first week of our COVID-19 charity operations, we made 4 deliveries to the Fish Food Pantry. Their crew were so grateful. One of their volunteers called out: “We just love you guys!”
It’s so heartwarming to experience the camaraderie and networking among the local charities. When we contacted the Fish Food Pantry, they encouraged us to call the Roseburg Dream Center. And so we did. The Dream Center told us that they also needed bread for their food pantry. So we made one dropoff this past week with 70 loaves of bread and 50 individually wrapped desserts.
In the first week of our COVID-19 charity we made & donated
family sized bread loaves (2-lb each)
Individually wrapped desserts
pints of wholesome organic soup
Another charity we’ve partnered with is the Roseburg Rescue Mission. They serve about 100 people a day in their homeless shelter. Their supplies have already dwindled, and grocery stores that regularly donate to them have not been able to help as much because their stocks are running low.
We offered to start making bread for them and to share produce from the LCO organic garden. LCO set up an agreement to supply bread to them each week, at the very least. This past week we made 3 deliveries with a total of 130 loaves of bread.
These wonderful charities continue to work tirelessly to serve the community. We are maintaining regular contact with them to find out what they need so that we can evaluate our capacity to help them. Our hope is to keep up with their needs. And we are looking forward to it!
