On Friday, Nov. 12, a diverse group of some 50 volunteers arrived early at an empty parking lot of an industrial facility near the Prescott Regional Airport to unload, and then distribute, some 40,000 pounds of donated food and household supplies from Salt Lake City, said a volunteer organizer with the Prescott Valley Stake of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
Coordinator Bruce Kneeland said this effort is part of the church’s ongoing humanitarian relief efforts.
Quad Cities volunteers worked to bolster supplies for 10 area charitable organizations who exist to help the less fortunate in the community, Kneeland said in a news release.
The food arrived in a semi-truck trailer and contained 24 pallets, Kneeland said. Over the next three hours, the volunteers unloaded pallets holding a variety of different foods, from canned peaches to spaghetti noodles to hot chocolate mix and freeze-dried mashed potatoes, he said. The shipment even included household items like laundry detergent and shampoo, he said.
All in all, volunteers unloaded 1,478 cases, sorted them, and then reloaded all the food onto the pick-up trucks, trailers and SUV’s each organization brought to haul away their portion back to their own facilities, Kneeland said. He predicted that the retail price for the goods is likely about $75,000.
The organizations to benefit from the donation are as follows: The Chino Valley Educational Foundation, Hungry Kids of Prescott Valley, The Chino Valley Food Bank, The Food Pantry at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, The Paulden Food Bank, The Salvation Army of Prescott, Set Free Ministry of Paulden, St. Vincent DePaul, the Yavapai Food Bank and the Prescott Community Cupboard
Church member Sam Yamamoto, who assisted in organizing the massive donation, said “it was amazing to see how so many people, of all ages, most of whom had never met each other before came together and go so much work done in such a short period of time,” Kneeland said. Yamamoto offered a special thanks to 10 Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University ROTC cadets who donated their assistance, as well as Dale Aurich, owner of Advanced Metal Fabrication, who allowed the truck to be unloaded on his property and drove the forklift, he said.
“Without the help of these strong young people we would not have been able to handle the project so quickly,” Yamamoto said in the release. He also expresses his thanks for Dale Aurich who allowed the truck to unload on the parking lot of his factory and who drove the forklift that made the unloading of the truck possible.
