If you know someone who needs help or you need help yourself, here are places where you might find it.
Veggies, eggs for families
On Saturday, I wrote that Cathy Lolwing of Felicia’s Farm has vegetables and eggs to share and that the farm is happy to widen its recipient list, especially to include hungry children.
Cathy says she received calls from two family counselors in the Tucson Unified School District asking that she deliver eggs and veggies to about a dozen families from their schools. Those families are now on her distribution list. You can be, too.
Felicia’s Farm
3761 E. River Road
Contact Cathy Lolwing, 520-396-0015
Monetary donations, as always, are welcome.
Basis students will deliver groceries, tutor kids, sew masks
Kyra Singh emailed:
“I am a junior at Basis Tucson North High School. A couple of my friends — Alex Caulin-Cardó, Makenna Ley, Sophia Lopez and Emily Rumph — and I have started STITCHES, which stands for Serving The Impacted Tucson Communities with Help, Encouragement and Support (a bit of a mouthful, I know).
“We are making masks for health-care workers, offering free grocery delivery services and tutoring kids throughout the city.
“I know that especially elderly citizens are in need of help during this time, and we want to make sure they are being given the support they need.
“Also, a lot of kids have had their school schedules disrupted and are finding it hard to maintain fixed schedules and would probably benefit from extra support at times that suit them.
“We want to help everyone out as much as we can, and we want to spread the word so people can take advantage of our services, and it would be great if you guys could help us with that.”
Contact STITCHES at stitchestucson@gmail.com or its website stitchestucson.weebly.com or on Facebook or Instagram @stitchestucson
Spoons, cups, salt, pepper needed
I thinned my pantry and dropped off dry goods at Casa Maria over the weekend. Casa Maria Soup Kitchen is a nonprofit Catholic workers’ community dedicated to helping the poor.
Brian Flagg, who has lived and worked at Casa Maria for more than 35 years, says the group’s greatest needs right now are styrofoam cups — 12- and 8-ounce sizes — plastic spoons, salt, pepper, garlic power and soup meat, including weenies. A particular treat would be cookies.
And if you have time, he could use volunteers form 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. or donations of dozens and dozens of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. I threw in a bag of oranges, too.
Casa Maria serves bag lunches and soup every morning from 8:30 to 11:30 to the homeless and those in need in its South Tucson neighborhood. More are coming to eat each day, Flagg said. He wants everyone to know that at the soup kitchen they are taking every precaution to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
Casa Maria Soup Kitchen
401 E. 26th St., Tucson AZ 85713
520-624-0312
Box of veggies for $8; free pantry
In front of the Tucson Neighborhood Food Pantry, 5707 E. 22nd St., you can get a huge box of veggies for an $8 donation each Saturday starting at 8 a.m. and until all boxes are sold or by noon, whichever comes first.
Last Saturday, I got there at 9:30 a.m. and the boxes included eggplant, zucchini, spaghetti squash, cucumbers, tomatoes and red, yellow and green bell peppers. The previous Saturday the boxes included honeydew and poblano and ghost peppers as well.
Value Veggies is a volunteer-operated ministry of God’s Vast Resources and is an annual fundraiser, open six months out of the year.
Proceeds stock the Tucson Neighborhood Food Pantry, which distributes free produce and other food on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays from 4 to 6 p.m. You do not need an appointment and there is no means test to use the pantry.
For more information call, 520-777-9629.
Looking for DVD players, yarn
On Saturday, Luz E. Gallego, service coordinator for B’nai B’rith Strauss Manor, 370 N. Pantano Road, asked readers to donate DVDs.
“We’ve been getting a good number of calls from people bringing in DVDs, CDs, art books, color pencils, et cetera,” she said. “If anyone has an extra DVD player around they don’t use and would like to donate, it would be nice. I didn’t realize that most of my low-income seniors don’t own a DVD player. Also we can use yarn. Our seniors like to knit and crochet.”
Contact Gallego at 520-722-9963 or straussmanorsc@qwestoffice.net
