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).