Loop residents Randy and Michelle Skipper and Theresa Walters wanted to help make a difference locally, and they believe they have found an ideal place to do it—the Rio Vista area.
They started an organization called US Vet Connect Inc., with the idea of creating a national organization to help disabled veterans and people in general. Both Randy and Theresa are veterans themselves, and during the pandemic saw great need to connect those in need with those who were looking for ways to help.
One of the things they learned was that the South County Services Food Pantry in Isleton was near empty. Knowing that social distancing orders and fear of going out were preventing a lot of people from dropping off donations, “we were looking for a way to make it safe and easy to donate,” said Michelle.
Their solution was “Can the Curb,” a donation campaign held on Flag Day 2020, where they and a group of volunteers from South County Services would go around and pick up donations people could leave in bags and boxes at their curb. For each pickup, they planned to leave a small American flag in commemoration of Flag Day.
They publicized the campaign through the Rio Vista Beacon and social media, reaching out to Rio Vista, Isleton and Delta Loop residents.
The result? “It was a reaffirming success,” Michelle declared, “The community really came through.”
They started hoping to fill a 5-foot-by-10-foot container. At the end, the donations ended up filling a 10-foot-by-25-foot container, making South County Services and their customers extremely happy.
Inspired by their success, the trio is using the Rio Vista experience as a test run to build a national campaign where they would encourage small communities, apartment complexes and other groups to create their own “Can the Curb” events to fill local food pantries. They plan to provide flyer and social media templates as well as connections to local services in need of help.
And they are not done with the Rio Vista area. Seeing the success of their first project, Michelle, Randy and Theresa are thinking of hosting another campaign around the Thanksgiving/Christmas holiday times to help other local food banks. Watch this space and the website USVetConnect.org for further developments, and keep collecting those donations.