SACRAMENTO, Calif. — It goes without saying that the pandemic has had an impact on everyone and everything. And that’s exactly why places like Produce Express have stepped up to do their part.
Every morning they fill thousands of boxes with fresh produce to send to families in need. The Sacramento wholesale produce distributor has teamed up to help people affected by the pandemic. The program is called “Food Boxes For Families in Need" and it is funded by the federal government.
Produce Express is responsible for not only boxing these fresh produce items but also delivering the goods to food banks and families in need. Any given morning there are 18,000 boxes that are delivered.
“When the pandemic hit, a lot of people in the industry we service lost their jobs," said Jim Boyce, owner of Produce Express. "And now we’re able to help them out indirectly, at a time when they’re in need. It’s really important for us that we’re helping people in our industry as well as all over Northern California”
The program actually solves two problems. For one, local farmers had lots of produce that was no longer being bought by restaurants because of the pandemic. And now, this provides a way for farmers to get rid of the produce and have it go to a great cause.
“The agriculture business in California is so huge," said Boyce. "Those are people really affected by the pandemic and it’s nice that we can do our part. It’s really important to the company that we can take care of our own and get them back to their full-time job and to reward the community at the same time is a win-win for everybody.”
Each one of these boxes weighs about 20 pounds. This program is set to run through the end of the year.
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