OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) – A kind-hearted group of people in the Benson area have a very special way of donating to others. They use their own cars and manpower to make sure people in their community do not go hungry.
Dave Dow backs his pickup truck into a small lot along Northwest Radial Highway in Benson on a Wednesday morning. In the bed of the truck? Boxes upon boxes of food.
Dow has just returned from Whole Foods in Regency. He takes what Whole Foods was going to throw away, but that’s still edible and donates it.
It’s called Community Produce Rescue.
“We give it to various clients. Our clients are mostly refugees. We have some halfway houses and shelters,” Dow said.
It’s a fast process. After Dow pulls up, his volunteers, including Karlene and Dennis Kingery, help him unload.
The food consists of strawberries, raspberries, and blackberries plus lots of tomatoes. Also, vegetables such as green beans and mushrooms as well as lettuce.
Together, they separate the food into different boxes and get ready to deliver it the same day.
From there it’s off to Omaha neighborhoods to help feed people who need it most.
On this particular day, 6 News followed the Kingerys to a nearby home as they gave a couple of boxes to a refugee family from Afghanistan.
“We consider it to be really important because those people do not have access to very much money and this really helps for their diet for the week,” Karlene Kingery said.
As that was going on, Dave Dow headed to another part of town to Carole’s House of Hope. It’s a transitional living facility for young women and mothers who have aged out of the foster care system or become homeless.
A man who told us he’s the Founder of the nonprofit, that’s been here for about a decade, said he’s grateful to be on the delivery list.
It’s what this program is all about.
“Otherwise they wouldn’t be able to afford good things like produce and so on. They are very limited in what they have to spend on different kinds of food,” Dow said.
Over the next few months, we will hear a lot about the season of giving. For this small group of volunteers, the outreach never stops.
It’s their mission to feed the people and groups that are often forgotten about or living on the margins in our community.
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