Foodbank Update

It is a bit early to close the book on COVID. However, with the vaccinations continuing and some of the restrictions being lessened, there is a need to express appreciation for everyone that has helped MEND serve—without disruption—more than 3,000 families per month for the duration of this health crisis.

Firstly, let’s thank the MEND families for patiently waiting on foot or in our drive thru service lines while we readied the produce, dry goods, meat, bread, eggs and dairy for their use. Thank you for coming with carts, strollers or wagons (or your grandson) to carry the forty to fifty pounds of food distributed to each client. We need to add a special acknowledgement to our neighbors and the people of Pacoima for stoically tolerating the line of cars down San Fernando Road on Tuesdays and Fridays during our distributions.

Thanks go out to our donors for stepping up—for taking the time, for making the extra effort to collect, assemble and, in many cases bring to us, the food MEND needs to maintain the increased number of people that have come through our facility since COVID. Additional thanks for the checks and cash donations which allowed us to provide a constant stream of fresh eggs or milk to add to our food boxes.

Of course, we must thank the MEND volunteers who donned masks, gloves, face shields and protective PPE outerwear to join MEND staff in serving on the front line. We thank them for the sorting, the lifting, the teamwork and good humor that was (and is) necessary to keep serving the people in need who come to and will continue to come to our doors for assistance.

Thank you to MEND administration and our COVID Safety Supervisors for their tireless work in keeping everybody well protected. Thank you for being insistent about the rules and regulations when we were tired of them; it is because of these efforts that we have been able to stay healthy and active throughout these challenging times.

Not so strangely there is no thanks to COVID for the havoc wreaked upon our world for the last year: the confusion and fear, the loss of life and jobs, the disruption of our daily routine and the education of our children among other challenges that have been thrown in our path. However, we can thank COVID for bringing us together to accomplish objectives that we had never imagined beforehand. We can be thankful for learning how to better work together. We are thankful for how to “roll with the punches” and “think outside the box” to achieve our objectives. Thanks for teaching us to work together—all while standing six feet apart.

-Adam, Foodbank Manager