Coming together:
Oasis Senior Center and a band of farmers each contribute to the well-being of others

[March 26, 2020]   LINCOLN - With no school and no work, families are spending more time at home right now. This means there is an increased need for food in almost every household. While public schools are providing some relief, families are still in need.

Add to that, grocers are stressed to keep their shelves stocked and you have the perfect storm for some families. No food, little money, and less food available for purchase if money is available.

On Tuesday, a small band of farmers who are an unofficial coffee club at Top Flight (Krueger) Elevator, rural Lincoln, came up with an idea. The first to think of it was Jeff Elsas. He shot out a group text to his coffee buddies suggesting they gather up some food to donate to the Lincoln Logan Food Pantry.

All his buddies responded and on Wednesday morning, the guys brought their donations into the elevator. As the contributions were set out on the dock at the elevator, it became a pretty impressive sized donation for just a one day drive at the spur of the moment.

Those who pitched in with donations included Jim Brown, Todd Stenberg, Rod Alberts, Jack Knollenberg, Steve Hasely, Kevin Smith, Scott Noltensmeier, Jeff Elsas and Bill Sahs.

The food was loaded up on Wednesday morning and taken to the food pantry to assist in restocking the pantry shelves for customers.

In the meantime on the other side of town, the Oasis Senior Center, which is currently closed due to the coronavirus, hosted a drive-thru pantry.

Oasis Director Nancy Cunningham said that the number of folks who turned out to receive a sack of groceries was outstanding and overwhelming. Because they quickly saw that they weren't going to have enough to go around, they limited the recipients to those age 65 and older.

Cars were lined up in the parking lot at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday morning, awaiting the distribution that started at 11 a.m. Recipients drove up to the patio on the dining room side of the building and a volunteer wearing a protective mask passed a bag of groceries to the driver.

Thanks so much to these two groups who decided to take action for their community. It is a great thing when we think of others before ourselves. Now is a time to show compassion for others, and pitch in wherever possible.

[Nila Smith with photos and information from Laura Tomlinson, Todd Steinberg and Karen Hargis]