As the coronavirus pandemic shutters school and businesses across the country, low-income communities are being disproportionately impacted. At a time like this, our local food banks are more important than ever – but unplanned expenses and a shortage of volunteers are causing local food banks to struggle to keep up with an overwhelming spike in demand.
Embodying our core value of community, Webcorians acrossCalifornia are stepping up to help fill this gap.
On Friday, March 13th, a group of 22 employees arrived at the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank ready to feed some of LosAngeles’ most vulnerable residents.
“The LA Food Bank provides meals for over 2,000,000 residents who have food insecurity, meaning they don’t know where they will get their next meal,” explains Sr. Vice President Gust Soteropulos. “I am so proud of our Webcor team that went on a Friday afternoon and put together nearly 1600 boxes of food.”
Although the event took place before the California shelter-in-place ordinance, the team took extensive measures to ensure safe hygiene was practiced throughout the day.
“The Food Bank had disinfected everything before our arrival, we also had made sure we were the only group showing up to help that day, we had gloves, hand sanitizer on hand, and hand washing stations,”explains Executive Assistant Agueda Zarate.
As Webcorians worked to package boxes of food, the food bank workers expressed their gratitude that the group didn’t cancel their reservation.
“Amidst the COVID-19 outbreak a lot of their groups had called to cancel in the last day or so,” Agueda says. “Webcor was able to go in and get them ahead of the game by a whole day. Thanks to our group we were able to feed LAUSD students and families in need in just a few hours.”
In these uncertain times, the volunteer event also proved to be a great team-building event.
Gaining inspiration from their counterparts in SouthernCalifornia, Webcorians in San Francisco volunteered at the SF-Marin Food Bank on Tuesday, March 24th.
Senior Project Engineer Adele Beppu agreed, sharing that “Coronavirus is spreading, but people still need to eat, especially those who cannot afford to go to the stores to buy their own food.”
With a mandated shelter-in-place ordinance in place since last week, the event provided a much-needed outlet for socialization for BayArea employees.
“After a week of sheltering home in place and only venturing out to grocery shop it was nice to go outside and see old friends,” says MEP Project Manager Crissy Tsai. “The pandemic is only going to get worse in the next couple of weeks and I wanted to take this opportunity to help those less fortunate before just sitting at home.”
Senior Project Engineer Adele Beppu agreed, sharing that “Coronavirus is spreading, but people still need to eat, especially those who cannot afford to go to the stores to buy their own food.”
Volunteers for the event were limited to 20 to allow enough space for social distancing. Everyone made sure to stay 6 feet apart and only“virtual” hugs were shared.
