Food, books and fun

Volunteers Stephen Williams, left, and Cameron Pickerill-Trinitapoli sit among food to be given out to families. The Daily Triplicate/Bryant Anderson

Families can show up today to receive food, books and also learn  healthy eating tips and explore the Wonder Bus at the Gasquet Fire Hall, 10 a.m.-1 p.m.; Smith River Methodist Church, 1-2 p.m.; and the Del Norte Community Health Center, 2:30-3:30 p.m.

But this is not just a food handout, said Kendra Howerton, the director of community development for the Community Assistance Network (CAN).

“We’re making it into a fun family event,” she said. “It ended up being like a traveling carnival.”

The sacks of food are meant for two children, and include such staples as cereal, apples, crackers, peanut butter, macaroni and cheese and powdered milk.

A sign hanging in the Wonder Bus. The Daily Triplicate/Bryant Anderson

She was putting together packets of information for parents “dealing with healthy snacks and how to shop smart,” she said.

Outside the church, volunteers from the youth group Friday Night Live and the Crescent City Police Department Explorers were unloading boxes of food.

“There were pallets and pallets at CAN,” said Holly Meyer-Zlokovich, a county health educator, about the food supply.

Teal Horne, 17, said she’s used to doing community service as one of the Explorers.

“It’s a nice thing to do for the kids who get food from school,” she said.

The Wonder Bus was there to occupy children while their parents picked up the food or talked to Vance.

There were also books for each child to take home.

The Boys and Girls Club of the Redwoods purchased almost 500 books with a $500 grant from the Wild Rivers Community Foundation.

“It worked out really well,” said Holly Gensaw, the unit director of the Boys and Girls Club of the Redwoods. “The grant is to give back to the community and the kids that need (books) the most.”

A number of local agencies, with the help of volunteers, have arranged the traveling caravan to go all over Del Norte County and help families this winter.

Last year, local agency officials started discussing how to help families who have been affected by the recession, Howerton explained.

“The first concern was: We have all these families that have an even greater need now during lengthy breaks,” Howerton said.

A lot of families rely on the free meals the school district provides, she said, and parents might be struggling to feed their children while they’re out of school.

Sacks of healthy snacks were given out last December at local schools and since then a “mobile pantry” has given out food in Crescent City and the outlying areas, Howerton said.

It worked so well, she said, the group of agencies calling itself the Weakening Economy (WE) Workgroup wanted to continue distributing food, she said.

“We thought we were doing a good thing and doing it well,” Howerton said.

The California Endowment noticed how so many agencies were working together and granted $20,000 to the WE Workgroup, Howerton said, and a portion of the funds are going toward delivering food to local families.

More of the stockpile. The Daily Triplicate/Bryant Anderson

With a $1,000 grant from the Wild Rivers Community Foundation, hygiene products were given out at Santa’s Workshop at Rural Human Services.

The WE Workgroup is also working on giving out Payless gift cards to families who need shoes, she said, adding this would be by referral only.

“These are big, basic needs that are not being met,” Howerton said. “One agency couldn’t do it alone. The key is working together.”

The WE Workgroup is a collaborative effort of Rural Human Services, the Del Norte Childcare Council, First 5 Del Norte, Del Norte Senior Center, the Boys and Girls Club of the Redwoods, CAN, the Del Norte Health Care District, Crescent City, Del Norte County, Del Norte County Unified School District, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Wild Rivers Community Foundation and California Endowment.