Local effort to aid Puerto Rico continues
When asked why he thinks people of his congregation, and the community in general, have responded so well to the local aid project, Puerto Rico One Box at a Time, Rev. Paul Shoop summed it up neatly, “It’s real stuff going to real people in real need.”
As transitional pastor of Trinity Emmanuel Lutheran Church in Gates, he has seen, firsthand, how the people of that church have enthusiastically embraced this project from the time its originator, Maria Delgado Sutton gave a presentation about the original devastation in Puerto Rico by Hurricane Maria in 2017 and the ongoing need.
When the church’s Christian Outreach Team was looking for their annual summer project, team co-chair Kathy Durfee saw a newspaper article about Puerto Rico One Box at a Time and contacted Delgado Sutton. Durfee said the committee considered several projects and “chose this one because it was not through an agency, but felt truly person-to-person. And we realized that everybody in our church could do something, whether it was to donate a bar of soap or cover the cost of mailing a box, we could all be involved.” And so they were.
For three months, congregants filled barrels in the church’s entryway with items specified on the list of non-perishable foods and school supplies. In total, they recently packed 41 flat rate USPS boxes that cost $17.10 each to mail. Boxes were sent to contact persons in Puerto Rico who distributed them. The church had enough donations to mail 33 of the boxes and are hoping to collect enough money to mail the others soon. Community donations have also filled another 18 boxes which need funding to be mailed. Church member and packing volunteer, Dottie Stoss says she had shoulder surgery when the project began and couldn’t be much help sorting and storing donations so she gave money for mailing. “It gave everyone a good feeling to know that children and families in Puerto Rico will have things they need because we did this,” she said.
In late August, 63 boxes of school supplies and food items donated by the community were collected at the Ogden Library and went to families of third graders in Bayamon, Puerto Rico. According to Delgado Sutton, when the next group of boxes arrived, people decided to open them and only take the specific items they needed, creating a sort of food bank where others could take what they needed. “This impromptu act of generosity and sharing is certainly in the spirit of One Box at a Time!” said Delgado Sutton.
To date, 270 boxes have been mailed and reached people in Puerto Rico, thanks to the generosity of our community.
Beginning September 30, Mondays and Wednesdays from 9 a.m. to noon, Trinity Emmanuel Lutheran Church, 761 Elmgrove Road, will serve as a drop off site for additional donations of money for mailing and non-perishable food items: canned meats vegetables and beans, small bags of rice, peanut butter, canned fruit and personal hygiene items. There will be a collection barrel inside the main entry for four weeks.
For questions or information contact: Maria Delgado Sutton at pr1boxatatime@gmail.com or 746-6172.
People in Puerto Rico are happy to open boxes of non-perishable food items sent from the Spencerport area. Even a jar of peanut butter is a treasured commodity.
Provided photos
