No matter how much we may try to escape the worries of the COVID-19 pandemic, the virus does not listen. Most everything we do nowadays is in the context of “pre-COVID,” “during COVID,” or “quarantine.”
Since this pandemic began over a year ago, a majority of people have been negatively affected by it somehow. Many areas still have COVID-related restrictions in place, from mandatory face masks to limited social gatherings. Yet, for many people, these restrictions are still incomparable to their greater everyday struggles.
Today, in 2021, the number of people facing food insecurity has increased by the millions since this time last year. This past holiday season, Random Acts IT Admin Carin Davis wanted to do whatever she could to help alleviate hunger in her local community.
Carin learned that her daughter’s preschool in Dayton, Ohio, was hosting a holiday food drive with The Food Bank. She saw this as a great opportunity for an act of kindness.
Carin and Nola with their donations!
Sharing Favorite Foods
With funding from Random Acts, Carin and her 5-year-old daughter, Nola, began their online shopping. Just as many people have shifted to a work from home lifestyle because of the pandemic, more shopping has moved online and continues to thrive. Many supermarkets have adapted to this shift and now offer free food pickup or delivery through their website or a mobile app.
After gathering basic food items to their virtual cart, Nola added some of her favorite foods, and they scheduled a pickup. Carin and Nola dropped off their donations near the end of the food drive and more than doubled what the school had collected.
Nola was hesitant to give up her favorite foods at first, but she easily changed her mind.
“Nola wasn’t 100% sure she wanted to donate all the Pop-Tarts,” Carin said, “but once she heard there were some kids who had maybe never tried them, she was back on board to donate them.”