By Steven Spraitzar, Public Relations, White Pony Express
White Pony Express (WPE), the Pleasant Hill food rescue group, announces that its programs are continuing to operate under Contra Costa County’s stringent requirements to contain the spread of COVID-19. Specifically, WPE wishes to let the public know that:
- White Pony Express remains OPEN for business. It continues to rescue nutritious fresh food from supermarkets and restaurants and deliver it free to those in need in our communities.
- WPE’s School Food Pantry Program is continuing to deliver food to free-lunch schools in the county. However, because the schools have closed, this food is now being taken to alternative distribution sites where the food is being made available to the school families.
- Volunteers are urgently needed as some volunteers wish to self-isolate.
- Those who wish to volunteer can sign up at https://www.whiteponyexpress.org/covid-19-response-volunteer
- Financial donations are also needed so WPE can continue providing nutritious food to hungry people. If you’d like to contribute, you can do so by visiting WPE’s website at https://www.whiteponyexpress.org/donate-funds.
- WPE will make limited deliveries of needed clothing for the foreseeable future.
- No donations of clothing will be accepted while the shelter-in-place order is in effect.
- WPE has implemented stringent health guidelines in place to protect its volunteers. These protocols (hand washing, use of hand sanitizers, gloves, social distancing, etc.) are now a part of all WPE’s food and clothing operations.
ABOUT WPE: WPE is a volunteer-powered 501(c)(3) organization headquartered in Pleasant Hill, CA, which helps people move from the margins to the mainstream by providing free food and clothing in a loving and respectful manner.
Dr. Carol Weyland Conner founded WPE in September 2013 when she was troubled that in an area with such an abundance of food, many thousands were going hungry, while at the same time food retailers were throwing out huge quantities of healthy, fresh food. From this insight, the Food Rescue program was born. In a little over 6 years, WPE has rescued and delivered more than 10.5 million pounds of fresh, nutritious food, free of charge, that would otherwise go to waste. This is equivalent to 8,750,000 meals.
In 2014 the White Pony General Store was added to provide high quality clothing, toys, and books to the underserved in our communities—all free of charge. Since that time, the General Store has given away over 512,000 items to those in need.
For more on WPE, visit www.whiteponyexpress.org.
