St. Paul Catholic Newman Center Food Distribution.

hours completed – 123. Josceline Dominguez

The Newman Food distribution was held every third Friday of each month, We handed out 50 bags of groceries ( one per person) that were donated by Catholic Charites. Along with some sanitary and clothing items such as shoes, soap, toilet paper, etc that were donated by kind members of the church. We set tables up outside of the cafeteria and only asked our participants for their zip code and amount of people in their household in exchange for a bag of groceries. The bags of groceries consisted of dry goods, for example, rice, beans, canned foods, and pasta. The goal of our distribution is to help fight food insecurity within our community.

The experience is something I am very grateful for. This distribution has taught me valuable skills and has shown me the value in helping others. I learned how to organize and operate a distribution such as how to spread the word, how to get volunteers, and how to get involved with our community programs. I was always more than happy to help out my participants in any way I could and talking with them always made me more enthusiastic about the project.

According to FeedingAmerica.org Fresno county has around 130,00 food-insecure people. The Newman food distribution is barely coming up to its one-year anniversary. Getting people to come in has been a struggle. Once I started passing flyers around the neighborhoods, Fresno State, and Walmart parking lots, we saw more families coming in. This meant that people needed food but they just didn’t know about resources near them. The distribution was not only a way to help those in need but also a way to socialize. Many of our participants were neighbors and with each distribution, you felt a strong sense of community

Impact

Community

Purpose