Food pantry boxes given out
Rebuilding Together teams with Wells Fargo on Monday to help Carquinez Highlands Mobile Home Park
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Rebuilding Together Solano County would visit 150 households a week and give out 750 pounds of food pantry boxes.
Those numbers have gone up just a little bit.
These days the organization, with help from many partners, visits 4,500 households a week and gives out 15,000 pounds of food a week, according to Rebuilding Together Executive Director Elizabeth Hoffman.
Rebuilding Together joined forces with Wells Fargo to visit 90 units Monday morning in the Carquinez Highlands Mobile Home Park and provide families with food boxes containing perishable and non-perishable items including onions, potatoes, broccoli, cabbage, tomatoes, hamburger
meat, milk, fruit, bread and masks.
Rebuilding Together has been doing a series of events since the pandemic started, but it was the first event of Wells Fargo helping out in the community in person since the pandemic.
“It's a great feeling especially to help out here in this community,” Wells Fargo Branch Manager Derek Fernandez said. Fernandez, who grew up in Vallejo and is a graduate of Vallejo High School, said he loves making a difference in Vallejo.
“The community always needs help, They may not want to ask for it, but by going out and doing these things in person you can see people face to face again and you can read them, see what they need,” Fernandez said. “You can also feel the impact of what you're doing a little bit more.”
Fernandez was joined by about 20 Wells Fargo employees, including District Manager Fawad Saghar.
“It's a great feeling helping out the less fortunate and I'm proud to work for my company and that my company allows me to do this,” Saghar said. “I love seeing all the smiling faces when you're making a difference. It's priceless and a great feeling.”
Hoffman said that everything Rebuilding Together does with the community is strictly confidential, so nobody will feel uncomfortable asking for help.
“I can't tell you how many people call me each week asking for help,” Hoffman said. “They're a little afraid sometimes to ask but I get so many people wondering and asking me, `Are you going to be there again next week at the same place?'
Saghar had kind words for Hoffman and said she “shows the biggest support from any nonprofit he's ever seen.”
“I think it's because she's very engaged,” Saghar said. “Even when she's on vacation she'll be texting me and asking if everything went OK.”
Hoffman said the group visits 10 mobile home parks throughout the city.
“I think there were a lot of people like myself who, three months into the pandemic, needed to get out of the house,” Edie Parsons of Community Presbyterian Church said. “We felt like getting out, but doing something important. It all started with the church helping out one day a year on MLK Day, but it just became addicting and now I do it all the time.”
Rebuilding Together Solano County provides free food via the Feeding American Program to Solano County residents who have completed the registration process from noon to 1 p.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays. The location for that process is at the Vallejo Community Presbyterian Church, 2800 Georgia St. It is a drive-thru program starting May 20 until further notice.
Rebuilding Together is having another food pantry distribution today to residents at Vallejo Broadway Mobile Home Park (1867 Broadway Street) from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. with Wells Fargo once again helping out.
For further information, call Hoffman at (707) 5809360 or email ehoffman. rtsc@gmail.com.