Local churches work together to help during pandemic

Churches work with local non-profits and agencies to assist those in need.

Saint Raymond Catholic Church in Dublin operates a food bank where those in need can receive food monthly. In normal times they help about 55 families but during COVID-19 this has skyrocketed to 120 families, equating to approximately 500 people. In addition to the increased need, many of their volunteers were seniors not able to help due to the shelter-in-place order.

Missionaries of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints normally spend their time teaching those interested about the gospel of Jesus Christ, but during the pandemic they were not able to knock on doors or visit people in their homes. They were sheltered-in-place in their apartments, but were allowed to leave to provide community service. It was a perfect match, so each week as many as eight missionaries from the Pleasanton zone of the church would go to Saint Raymond and help weekly with packing food boxes and the monthly food distribution.

Maggie Ringle, chairman of the food bank wrote, “They have been at every distribution helping to load food boxes in clients’ cars since March. They help us continue the work of feeding the poor. Our food bank has benefited from the generosity of their time and commitment to the mission of helping others; it has been a privilege to work with them…”

In Concord, there is a Bishops’ Storehouse which local bishops of the LDS church can draw upon for their members in need. In addition, humanitarian assistance can be provided to help those in need in the community. Specific projects to assist are approved by the local leader of the church. President Brian Black of the Pleasanton Stake is able to help by approving these requests. One hundred turkeys and turkey roasts as well as green beans, potato flakes, mac & cheese, mushroom soup and cake mixes were provided for the Saint Raymond Thanksgiving food boxes. An additional grant was for the Christmas food boxes which included ham, canned corn, chili, peaches, jam, cereal, gelatin and once again mac & cheese (is that a staple?). For the past seven years, the churches have worked together to provide a Thanksgiving dinner, held at St. Raymond, but that was cancelled due to Covid-19 and the focus turned to the food bank.

Missionaries and members of the Church have also helped as volunteers at the Pleasanton Unified School District food distributions, as well as at the Alameda County Food distribution site at the fairgrounds operated by Tri-Valley Haven and Open Heart Kitchen. The Bishops’ Storehouse has also provided a large donation of food monthly to Open Heart Kitchen for many years. Missionaries have also been helping sort donations weekly at the American Cancer Society Discovery Store as well as Hively’s “free store” to help those in need.

The Lynnewood United Methodist Church in Pleasanton operates a program they call “Bundles of Joy.” Monthly, newborn kits are provided to mothers in need through Axis Community Health. Just recently, a year’s supply of diapers and baby wipes was provided for their program through the Bishops’ Storehouse. Members of local Latter-day Saint Relief Societies (ladies auxiliary) often have service projects to provide other materials for the kits, such as blankets and bibs.

Members of the Church also helped with the “Adopt a Senior” Christmas project for Senior Support of the Tri-Valley. They signed up to buy a gift requested by 120 seniors and delivered a bag of toiletries and other “goodies” provided though the Bishops’ Storehouse. The Community of Character provided the shopping bags and some of the items inside, such as magnets, pens and pencils. Other community groups like the GLIFY (Global Leadership Initiatives for Youth) group and Boys Team Charity of Danville helped with the project. Maddy Zhang, a youth leader of GLIFY, reported, “It was such a great experience for our youth as well. The kids were glad to see that their small gifts brought so much joy and happiness to the seniors in our community.”

Due to the pandemic, the Pleasanton Military Families could not hold their Christmas Packout at the Veterans Hall due to closure of all city buildings, but use of an open-air pavilion at the Vineyard Latter-day Saints chapel enabled the pack-out to be completed successfully. Four times a year PMF sends packages to local military throughout the world.

Children of the Pleasanton School District are being helped for Christmas with a toy drive sponsored by Blue Oaks and Valley Community Churches. Since the “Adopt a Senior” program was filled, local church members were encouraged to participate in that drive, as well as Hively’s Toy drive.

Due to the pandemic, food pantries are being overwhelmed with the number of families needing assistance. Many local churches sponsor Boy Scout packs and troops, which recently held their annual “Scouting for Food” drive which gathered 5,570 pounds of food and $5,000 of donations in the Tri-Valley. The humanitarian arm of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has provided containers of food, shipped from Church storehouses in Salt Lake City. Over 40,000 pounds of food was provided to the Alameda County Community Food Bank, which in turn supplies local food banks, like St. Raymond, Valley Bible Church, Tri-Valley Haven and Open Heart Kitchen. Similar truckloads of food have also been sent to many northern California food banks including San Jose, Monterey, Santa Cruz, Contra Costa and Fresno totaling over 400,000 pounds this year, including many for fire victims.

Did you notice how many churches, non-profits and agencies were mentioned in this article? Blue Oaks Church, St. Raymond Catholic Church, Valley Bible Church, Valley Community Church, Lynnewood United Methodist Church and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have been working with volunteer and non-profit groups like the Pleasanton Community of Character Collaborative, Boys Team Charity, GLIFY, Hively, Tri-Valley Haven, Open Heart Kitchen, Senior Support of the Tri-Valley, the Discovery Store, Pleasanton Military Families, Pleasanton Unified School District, Axis Community Health, the Boy Scouts of America and the Alameda County Food Bank. These are just a few of the relationships between churches, volunteer groups and non-profits benefiting those in need in our community.

Local churches have been working with each other and with other non-profits and community volunteer groups long before Covid-19 and will surely continue after the pandemic ends, which hopefully will be very soon. Many other stories could be told of other churches and non-profits providing similar services to help those in need, not only in the Tri-Valley, but throughout the Bay Area, California, nationwide, and throughout the world. Government assistance is not the only answer.

If YOU would like to experience the “Joy of Service” but don’t know where to start, check out www.JustServe.org, enter a local Pleasanton zip code (94566) and you’ll find over 60 projects, many of which could use YOUR HELP. Let’s all work together.