YMCA of Greenville getting food services to areas in need with new ‘Y on the Fly’ van

YMCA of Greenville has a new tool to expand its mobile mission of furnishing food items and solutions to the group.

On Friday, the corporation unveiled the vehicle that will be made use of to boost its “Y on the Fly” program. The new Dodge Ram ProMaster cargo van that will enable YMCA staff members and volunteers to supply food items and products and services to additional youngsters, family members, and seniors.

“Y on the Fly’ is a Y without the need of partitions, providing workers and volunteers a way to supply outreach to the community in so lots of techniques,” stated Parks McCleod, chair of the board of trustees for the YMCA of Greenville Basis.

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YMCA of Greenville commenced attempts to aid reduce food items insecurity in 2020 when colleges shut mainly because of the COVID-19 pandemic, reported Diana Watson, the organization’s chief philanthropy officer.

Greenville County Colleges and LiveWell Greenville knowledgeable the group that youngsters who normally rely on educational facilities for breakfast and lunch, were not obtaining the food stuff they wanted, Watson stated.

“Greenville County Educational institutions was performing a huge distribution, where they have been distributing (food items) at universities throughout the county, but there have been people residing in motels who had been technically homeless, who struggled from transportation difficulties, access to grocery outlets, that kind of matter,” Watson stated.

“We said, ‘We can load up and choose meals to these households,'” Watson stated. “We thought it might be a quick-phrase factor.”

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Instead, she stated, it has grow to be ongoing.

YMCA Greenville now provides food items to about 200 people a 7 days and does its bagging and packing of foods objects from two places. The program not only provides meals to families in inns, but also to veterans at the VA Outpatient Center, residents at the Gateway Property, and personal family members recognized by means of Greenville County Faculties, Watson claimed.

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The “Y on the Fly” van will be applied to transport and deliver food stuff, together with furnishing other community services such as keeping nourishment courses in Nicholtown or parking lot yoga courses in the Parker group, she said.

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“Y on the Fly’ is supported by grants provided by the YMCA of Greenville Basis, the Vacation Sunshine Fund, and Tumble for Greenville. The food stuff program by itself is funded by YMCA’s annual marketing campaign, as very well as donations from YMCA customers.

“We are so grateful to everyone who gave to the Holiday Sunshine Fund, The Greenville News, and WYFF for continuing that effort and hard work simply because, as you can see, it does make a tangible change for our neighbors,” Watson explained.

Susan Beam mentioned staying one of the volunteers delivering groceries has, to her, been life-changing.

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“I’ve been accomplishing this for about a yr and I think the initial time we went to deliver, I had no notion these bad neighborhoods are backed up against some of the most affluent areas of Greenville. At the time you see a stone’s throw, you cannot unsee it,” she mentioned.

“I’m thankful and grateful that I can do this,” Beam explained. “It is an remarkable system and you can see that we seriously are making a variation.

“The van is validation of this hard work. As an alternative of possessing to load up our autos, now we’ve obtained a van. I like it,” she reported.

The meals shipped by means of “Y on the Fly” is primarily common, nonperishable items. Examples contain peanut butter, jelly, granola bars, canned goods, uncomplicated microwaveable foods, some breads, and fruits.

“Some of our families are transient. Some of them stay in motels. They really don’t have entry to complete kitchens,” Watson stated. “We want to make confident that what we are providing is something they can get ready and take in. We really check out to consider of who we’re serving, what their circumstance is, and what we set in the bags.”

This report initially appeared on Greenville News: YMCA of Greenville using new van for local community meals expert services