GOODFELLOW AIR FORCE BASE, Texas -- The Taylor Chapel here teamed up with Trinity Lutheran Church to host a food drive which runs from April 17-24.
The donations from the food drive will be distributed to various food banks throughout San Angelo which have struggled during the restrictions imposed during the ongoing pandemic.
“We were keeping in touch with things that were happening back home at our church in Idaho,” said Capt. Jonathan Shour, 17th Training Wing chaplain. “They were doing a food drive and trying to reach out intentionally to increase donations.”
Normally they rely on small donations from people attending services, he added, but with services restricted they weren’t getting the donations they needed.
Since the same restrictions apply locally, Shour and his wife Rebecca decided to reach out and see if any local food banks and food collection centers were struggling as well.
“We’re always looking for ways to do outreach in the community and see how we can help, whether it’s events, or helping the base with Easter baskets,” said one of the event coordinators Rebecca Shour. “We reached out to the food banks here and they said ‘absolutely’, they are struggling and not getting as many donations.”
The local food collection centers were reluctant to put out a wide notice to the public because of the risk of having too many people show up at once and violate the social distancing procedures. That’s when they came up with the idea of ongoing donation boxes at various locations. This means they can collect the donations and consolidate them without amassing a crowd of good Samaritans trying to help.
“I talked with the [Trinity Lutheran Church] outreach team and we talked about including the base to make our reach bigger and have more communities involved,” said Rebecca. “We told our neighbors and other church members told their neighbors, so we can reach more people.”
The plan of attack paid off , and the drive had overwhelming success. With days left in the food drive, the amount of donations has far exceeded passive food collection methods according to Shour.
The program is still seeking donations of canned goods and other non-perishable items, but all is welcome as long as it isn’t expired. If you wish to donate, there are drop-off locations at the Taylor Chapel on Goodfellow, Trinity Lutheran Church at 3536 Lutheran Way, and The Landings at Goodfellow Housing.