![\"Giving](\"https:\/\/lamesacourier.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/packing-bags.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n\u201cWhen we connected about two years ago, she was explaining what she did and I said \u2018Oh my gosh, this is amazing, I want in, but we need to do more. We can do so much more,\u201d Gildersleeve said.<\/p>\n
Together, the two women formed the nonprofit entity called Monie & Mo\u2019s Food Pantry, which distributes food bags to needy families at six schools in the La Mesa-Spring Valley School District. Once a month, Monie & Mo\u2019s distributes bags of donated food collected from friends and community members. The pair also collects cash donations that are spent at the food bank where it is most cost effective. Once all the food is collected, there\u2019s a packing party where people come over and prepare the bags of food to distribute.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe make an assembly line and we do 30 bags at a time,\u201d Gildersleeve said.<\/p>\n
The volunteers then take the bags to Highlands for the students’ families to pick up there. Social workers from the other schools pick up food bags from Muldoon\u2019s garage to bring to their respective schools.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey go and have a giving table set up along a circular driveway for easy and safe pickup,\u201d Muldoon said.<\/p>\n
In addition to picking up food bags for distribution, the schools\u2019 social workers play a key role in gathering information about each family\u2019s needs. Dealing with some generous donations for this year\u2019s Thanksgiving illustrate the importance of school social workers in Monie & Mo\u2019s model.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe partnered with Valley Farms and they gave us 15 turkeys for Thanksgiving. There was not enough for all the families at Highlands, but then we were gifted gift cards from Luna Grill so we were able to give gift cards to the other families,\u201d Muldoon said.<\/p>\n Deciding which families got turkeys and which got gift cards was a matter of knowing which families had ovens at home and which were homeless.<\/p>\n \u201cSo that\u2019s where the counselor comes in, because they know these families,\u201d Muldoon continued. \u201cWe asked her if we should try and get 15 more turkeys and she said \u2018No, I know the families that have the resources to cook a turkey and I know the families that could use a gift card.\u2019 So it\u2019s really important to have that connection with the counselors at the schools.\u201d<\/p>\n In addition to school counselors and partnerships with local businesses like Valley Farms and Breaking Bread, which donates bread and money to the food pantry, Monie & Mo\u2019s has also been fortunate to have help from other local groups like Feeding the Flock Ministry and people like Kristen Timmons, who runs a food pantry on 54th Street and Muldoon\u2019s daughter Morgan Davis who helped with setting up the nonprofit, building the website monieandmos.com and with networking. The help is needed and appreciated because of the exponential growth Monie & Mo\u2019s has seen since the COVID pandemic began.<\/p>\n Before the pandemic, food distributions were only scheduled for the beginning of school breaks to tie over families that suddenly lose the two meals a day their children get at school.<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of these families really rely on the school for breakfast and lunch every day,\u201d Gildersleeve said. \u201cIf you think about it, per kid that\u2019s 10 meals per week and we\u2019re leaving them out for two weeks times however many kids are in their family.\u201d<\/p>\n By March of this year, even before the COVID crisis fully took hold, Monie & Mo\u2019s made the switch to monthly distributions because the need was already growing. With the pandemic, the need for food exploded.<\/p>\n \u201cLast year at this time we ware excited to serve 16 bags of food,\u201d Gildersleeve said. \u201cAnd this last time we served 120 families, so that\u2019s how quickly we grew.\u201d<\/p>\n In March, Monie & Mo\u2019s served two schools. In April, two more joined the pantry program. In October, four more joined. Currently, Monie & Mo\u2019s serves Highlands, Bancroft, Avondale, La Mesa Dale, Rolando and Northmont elementary schools.<\/p>\n \u201cI wouldn\u2019t be surprised if by next year we have all 15 schools in La Mesa-Spring Valley School District,\u201d Muldoon said.<\/p>\n That kind of growth has brought some changes to how the pantry operates, like insisting that all donated food be non-perishable.<\/p>\n \u201cIn the beginning we said we\u2019d take everything, we\u2019ll never decline anything \u2014 this was part of our thing,\u201d Gildersleeve said. \u201cThen I had three hundred pounds of rotten potatoes in my garage because there was a heat wave that shortened their lifespan by about four days, which crushed us.\u201d<\/p>\n One thing that hasn\u2019t changed for Monie & Mo\u2019s is a commitment to the entire community, not just the school community.<\/p>\n \u201cPart of our mission is that it doesn\u2019t have to only be the schools that we\u2019re giving to, if we hear of somebody that is in need that we can help, we\u2019re going to start helping,\u201d Muldoon said.<\/p>\n Still, the focus of the food panty will be mostly on schools and Gildersleeve sees a future where they partner with more school districts to help seed their own self-sufficient food pantry programs, as well as start looking for grant money to give a boost to donations beyond local businesses and residents.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are also trying to have every school have a little Mini & Mo\u2019s pantry at every school, where if a family comes in to them and says, \u2018Oh my gosh, my husband just lost his job, we don\u2019t have any food. Can you help?\u2019 they would be able to get stuff to them immediately,\u201d Muldoon said.<\/p>\n Right now, Monie & Mo\u2019s Food Pantry is flush with donations because people are \u201cfeeling deep pockets and they want to share the holiday spirit,\u201d Gildersleeve said. But what about after the holidays or after the COVID vaccine is distributed and the pandemic begins to fade from donors\u2019 consciousness?<\/p>\n \u201cWe have faith. We always get what we need,\u201d Muldoon said.<\/p>\n \u201cSomehow,\u201d finished Gildersleeve. \u201cOur motto is \u2018We haven\u2019t failed yet, so just keep on truckin\u2019. So we\u2019ll just keep going and keep the faith.\u201d<\/p>\n For more information about Monie & Mo\u2019s Food Pantry, or to make a donation, visit www.monieandmos.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n