In September 2020, Generous Hands received a substantial grant from the Vicksburg United Way. This money was used to provide our families with additional Family Fare coupons, Friday Packs and Back to School Bonanza school supplies during the pandemic. In addition, some of the money went toward funding the new permanent awning at Generous Hands, which allows for safe, dry and socially distanced food distribution during the pandemic.
GH Remains Open During Pandemic
The advent of the coronavirus pandemic presented many new challenges to Generous Hands and the families we serve. Generous Hands never shut its doors. Schedules and packing groups were re-worked, additional families sought assistance, new protocols for working in a “socially distant” fashion were developed. MORE food was obtained. The greater Vicksburg community (as usual!) proved to be very generous to GH, and daily food donations were dropped off on our doorstep. Generous Hands provided additional assistance to our families by:
Doubling of our Family Fare vouchers in March, April, May and June 2020
Offering GH Power Packs to any family in need (usually, we serve only children who qualify for the free-reduced lunch program administered at the schools). Given the current economic crisis, it was not clear which families qualified, so food was made available to all who requested it.
Generous Hands distributed school supplies during the pandemic: in April, when the pandemic lockdown resulted in only online instruction; in August, partnering with South County Community Services, we distributed “Back to School Bonanza” school supplies, as well as washable cloth face masks and ear buds/ear phones (used for online instruction).
Distribution Updates
During the pandemic and for the entire 2020-2021 school year, Generous Hands’ Power Packs and Family Fare vouchers are only being distributed at our 606 Spruce St warehouse. Due to social distancing policies, we have attempted to limit the number of people in our warehouse space, so food distributions have taken place outside our back door, underneath our new permanent awning. Packs are distributed Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 10AM to noon. Special arrangements can be made, if families cannot pick up at this time. Contact Sheri Louis, our Executive Director at (269) 370-7965.