Gardner business grants We Care's wish
By Christina Chapman - cchapman@morrisdailyherald.com
Good things come to those who wait.
After a year of asking people to keep We Care of Grundy County in mind if they're considering a vehicle donation, Executive Director Denise Gaska finally got her wish last week.
Wayne and Della Holt, owners of Holt & Sons Truck Sales in Gardner, donated a 2000 Chevy cargo van to We Care after Nick DeMarco, a volunteer of the organization, approached the year-old business.
"It's that time of year. We had a good year and others have not been so fortunate," Wayne Holt said. "We are big believers in karma."
With the help of volunteers Pierre Dube and Pat Brown, Gaska was able to pick up the van Friday and began using it immediately. On Tuesday, the van was storing food picked up from the First United Methodist Church food pantry while We Care employees and volunteers organized its pantry to fit more food.
"I'm really excited We Care will have the improved ability to receive donations and to do even more outreach with the van," Gaska said.
In addition to the van donation, the Holts also filled the van with food to donate to the food pantry.
Della Holt passed out about 130 fliers attached to grocery bags in her Minooka subdivision. She asked her neighbors to fill the bag and drop off the items at the van during certain hours while it was parked in front of their home for a few days, said Wayne Holt.
"We just thought it would be great if we could get people to bring bags of food and fill it up," he said. "The floor of the van was pretty full."
Gaska said the van will be most helpful for the daily food pick-ups it does from the Morris Jewel-Osco. Each Monday through Friday, volunteers pick up food Jewel is not allowed to sell because the freshness date has expired.
The pick-ups depend on volunteers who have pickup trucks. Sometimes a volunteer cannot make it, and finding a last-minute fill in is difficult. Gaska said We Care has been fortunate, and this doesn't happen often. Still, the van is a reassuring back-up option.
"We want to keep our relationship up with Jewel," Gaska said. "They have to hold the food and put it aside for us, so we want to keep up our end of the bargain."
In addition, the van will help when Gaska gets calls from truckers looking to donate unclaimed loads. Sometimes shipments are denied because of incorrect packaging or a broken pallet, she said. When this happens, We Care runs into problems finding someone with a large enough vehicle to pick up the items.
"Now it won't be an issue, and we can make multiple trips if we need to," Gaska said. "This van opens up a whole new world of possibilities for donations and services we can provide."
The Holts also paid to have We Care's name put on the van and signage, stating it was donated by Holt & Sons.
"It was detailed, too," Gaska said. "When we picked it up, it was completely clean and smelled good, just like a new car."
With the donation of a van comes extra costs, such as insurance and gas, but the community has stepped up to help We Care handle the expenses.
Illinois Insurance Consultants of Morris helped We Care to find a low insurance rate. Through a Jewel Osco grant to improve access to food and resources for food pantries, We Care got the first year of insurance covered. A private donor gave the first $100 for gas.
Gaska also said We Care has numerous friends who are mechanics that she is hoping will help with future maintenance.
For more information on We Care of Grundy County or to donate, call (815) 942-6389.
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