Chino Valley Hungry Kids Project: Packing grocery bags for families in need

Brown paper bags filled with food before volunteers of the Chino Valley Hungry Kids Project delivered them to families around the community on Thursday, March 26, 2020, at Heritage Middle School in Chino Valley. (Cindy Daniels/Courtesy)

Brown paper bags filled with food before volunteers of the Chino Valley Hungry Kids Project delivered them to families around the community on Thursday, March 26, 2020, at Heritage Middle School in Chino Valley. (Cindy Daniels/Courtesy)

The Chino Valley Education Foundation’s Hungry Kids Project held an event at Heritage Middle School the morning of Thursday, March 26, where community students packed grocery bags with food and then delivered it to some of the less fortunate families in town.

Around 20 volunteers, including foundation board members and regular volunteers from Hungry Kids Project, participated in an effort to help feed the needier families from the Chino Valley and Paulden areas.

Cindy Daniels, assistant superintendent for Chino Valley Unified School District, is also a regular Chino Valley Food Neighbors volunteer and said the volunteers managed to stuff 600 brown grocery bags with food and then split up into teams to deliver the bags door to door.

The Hungry Kids Project usually holds Weekend Meal Bag events every Thursday but this particular edition came about due to the coronavirus pandemic.

After Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey mandated a statewide school shutdown on Sunday, March 15, community figures and organization leaders met the following Monday to figure out a way to provide for the members of the community.

“Pastor Wayne Ballard from Grace Baptist Church came, our Hungry Kids volunteers came, our family resource specialists from the school district came and myself and we brainstormed, ‘If this thing persists, what will our families need?’” Daniels said. “And the No. 1 need was the groceries and so Wayne Ballard contacted other churches in the area to see if they wanted to participate.”

Gov. Ducey announced on March 30 that schools will remain closed for the remainder of the school year.

Daniels also mentioned that it was a struggle for Hungry Kids to obtain the usual amount of food for such an event because of stores limiting how much someone can buy amid the coronavirus outbreak.

However, Daniels said that thanks to some quick thinking by their experienced drivers, they were able to get enough food for families who are all out and essentially can’t afford to make a trip outside of their rural towns to grocery shop in the city.

She went on to say that this experience for the volunteer students was beneficial based on the fact that it really puts life into perspective.

“The benefit to the kids and families is that not only is it nourishing for their bodies, but it’s really a nourishment for their soul and source of encouragement to know that people in the community care about them.”

Monetary donations — by check payable to Chino Valley Education Foundation — can be mailed to: Chino Valley Education Foundation, 650 E Center Street, Chino Valley, AZ 86323.

Aaron Valdez is a reporter for the Chino Valley Review of Prescott News Network. Follow him on Twitter at @Valaaron_94. Email avaldez@prescottaz.com or call 928-445-3333, ext. 2031.


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