By Charles Burkett
POSTED: MAR 27, 2020 11:45AM CST
DENTON – Lovepacs Denton has been helping families in need since 2018. The original process started out of the Little Elm chapter of the organization after receiving needs from schools in the Denton Independent School District. The organization moved to help those families in three schools, once word spread, they grew.
Jenny McGee, the community coordinator, explained, “It started out as three and then it very quickly became five and then nine. So we serve about nine schools right now, obviously, our long term goal would be to serve every school that needs help."
There are a few locations that have the drop-off boxes where people can take items to donate. Currently, the Bearded Monk is helping by offering a drive-through drop off. Other Locations, like the Bearded Lady, has to be taken inside.
Once donations are collected, they are picked up, distributed, then packed by volunteers then distributed to schools where counselors get in touch with the families to deliver the items. Though since the COVID-19 outbreak, those processes have changed due to social distancing.
“It's a drive-up situation with no contact. We've got some signs up to communicate with people and then the other window down and talk to us in the distance," McGee explains, “We put the food out next to the car, and then give them the go-ahead, and then they all set we all step away, you're going to go ahead, and then basically they load it up.”
The communications person for Lovepacs, Rebecca Burris, has personal reasons for being involved, “I can look back now and say, Oh, you know, we only have a certain number of gallons that we could buy milk every week, and we only had, you know, we had a set schedule of when we ate things because you know, she was working around sales.”
She does not want to see others with the same struggle, "I don't want somebody to have to do that with their kids and I want them to just not have that worry on their plate. There's a lot of other things going on too."
Once the COVID-19 break is done, she also wants people to remember the importance of the schools and how they reach families.
"I want people to realize just how valuable how many resources schools give to our, to our kids and their families in need. All the time, not just now," says Burris.
Lovepacs Denton hopes that the giving will continue to grow especially after the quarantine is lifted and that people will focus efforts to donate locally.
