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TOP STORY OF THE DAY, brought to you free by WICU: Organizations work together to help county families with food insecurities
Mike Robinson was pleased with the turnout on Saturday morning for the second food giveaway sponsored by federal money geared toward Clay County families either affected by COVID-19, who are elderly or who have a low income.
While equipped with supplies to help out 300 families, Robinson noted that 207 families came through the line at the First Christian Church just west of Brazil – starting to lineup at 6 a.m. for the event which lasted from 9-11 a.m.
“I was very pleased with the way it went,” Robinson said. “The weather guys were with us, and the rain held off until about 15 minutes left. We had a great turnout from a lot of organizations who helped us to keep things running smoothly. Overall, I was very pleased.”
Robinson noted several organizations whose members volunteered their time – Northview National Honor Society, 4-H Junior Leaders, Carbon Baptist Church, Methodist Church, Berea Church, Inside-Outside Recovery, Clay County Emergency Food Pantry, Senior Center, the Brazil City Fire Department and one from the Moose Lodge.
“Whatever leftover meat and canned goods are distributed to those organizations,” Robinson said. “They are able to get it to the people who need it through their individual programs.”
The first food distribution was in May, and the events will take place monthly through October.
Robinson said he learned a lot from the first one to Saturday’s event.
“This one went better, and each time we fine-tune a little bit more each time,” he said. “I had a meeting on Monday morning with several people to go over how things went and to try to find areas to improve.”
One change from the first one was that the route taken by drivers to have their vehicles loaded up was altered to make it more efficient.
“Normally we start at the garage and wrap around to the church entrances,” he said. “I thought it was too hot to put people in the garage in this heat, so we changed the order. We prepped everything in the church where it was air-conditioned and that went a lot better.
“It all comes down to volunteer workers,” Robinson added. “We can have the best game plan, but if we don’t have the volunteer workers it’s not going to happen. I can’t thank all those groups enough, and I highly encourage anyone who would to help next month to call me [812-243-7413] or Janet McClellan at the Mayor’s Office [812-443-2221].”
Robinson said that one additional benefit, besides helping those who have a food insecurity, of the operation is more of a social benefit than anything.
“There are a lot of groups doing a lot of great things in Clay County, but everybody is just kind of doing their own thing,” he said. “I was trying to pull these groups together as a team. It has worked out well. I have heard comments from several different groups that it has been nice to work with people they might not normally work with and they’re meeting new people.
“It’s opened a whole new dialogue between the different pantries and agencies,” Robinson added. “I’m very happy with that turnout. God has a plan for all of us, and I just want to put it together and see what happens.”
So far, he likes what he sees.