LANCASTER — Assemblyman Tom Lackey and The Growing Valley Baptist Church hosted a food distribution event Friday morning for local nonprofit organizations and individuals.
Lackey teamed up with the US Department of Agriculture’s Farmers to Families Food Box program for the event. Growing Valley Baptist Church, on 20th Street West and Lancaster Boulevard, offered its parking lot.
“We’ve been here 72 years, so we’re not new to service,” Growing Valley Pastor Jacob D.R. Johnson said. “It really fit in with our thematic emphasis for the year, which is servant leaders ministering together in community. That’s our thematic thrust. We’re glad to help.”
“It just makes you feel good when you can help in any way,” coordinator Sylvia Dunmeyer said.
A big rig delivered 24 pallets of food. Each pallet was stacked with 77 boxes of fresh produce. The produce included apple slices, onions, potatoes and lettuce.
Antelope Valley Partners for Health, Valley Oasis, and Salvation Army picked up two pallets each. Several local churches also collected pallets of produce to feed their families.
“We’ve had a lot of individuals come and we’re giving individual boxes,” Lackey’s District Director Vanessa Wilk said.
Lackey and state Sen. Scott Wilk joined the volunteers to help distribute the produce.
”This is kind of a heartwarming circumstance that COVID is wielding something positive, because of all these farmers doing so much good work, yet the vendors that they normally contract with aren’t able to take the volume,” Lackey said. “So we’re making sure that people in need are being considered in this whole challenge of food distribution.”
Lackey added the sad thing is that it was easy to meet demand.
“There’s a lot of people that really could use this extra support,” Lackey said.
Wilk, who spent 14 days quarantined in his Sacramento apartment after a fellow legislator tested positive for COVID-19, also volunteered for the event.
“This is Tom’s event; I’m just kind of volunteering,” Wilk said.
Wilk added he tested negative twice for the virus and never exhibited any symptoms.
