vegetables; boxed goods including pasta meals, macaroni and cheese,
cereals and pancake mix and meat sources of hot dogs, hamburger and
bologna. Hy-Vee delivers milk, eggs and cheese to them twice per week.
I asked how they receive the items and she explained that their
program purchases them and the community helps with donations.
”This community is awesome. Just awesome,” she grinned. When they
have a specific need, they post a notice in the paper, on their website and
on Facebook and the community quickly responds. She showed me a
gathering of cereal boxes and explains how one church’s vacation Bible
school had a contest to see which class brought in the most boxes of
cereal. “We had 4 ½ shopping carts filled with cereal boxes!” She wasn’t
talking about the carts being filled to the top edge, instead each cart was
heaping full, as packed as it could be.
Items they need most often include cereals, peanut butter, jelly,
canned fruits, tuna, soups, and Spaghetti O’s. They will accept all
donations, Adamson explained, “we will find a home for it.”
The program has made a big difference to many people in the
community. In the month of July, they helped 198 households with food,
which breaks down to 538 individuals. Eighteen households were helped
with diapers or formula, sixteen households helped with rent and five
with a prescription. It’s impressive when you think of how many people
in the community that are helped each year.
Adamson smiled as she talks about the wonderful “family” that
she works with and the years of combined experience they have. Kelli
Stanage, Liz Lynch, Christina Blume and Donna Madson all work as
a team with Adamson to best help each person who visits. As I took
pictures of the staff present, their close working relationship was evident
as they all talked and laughed with one each other. They’ve not only
developed a close relationship with one another, but also a bond with
those they have served over the years.
When I asked what a typical day or week was like, she explained that
it depends on the week. Each day often starts off with the same routine
of distributing funds for the Payee Program. The rest of the day and the
week varies, some days the food pantry is the busiest project while some
days other tasks are needed most.
Her passion for helping people doesn’t stop with the Contact Center.
Adamson also volunteers with the Salvation Army, scheduling the
Salvation Army Bell Ringing in November and December. She also
helps with county welfare. Here she takes applications, helps to find the
laws that pertain to each situation and talks with the county about how
Save
up to
2600
$
that individual could be best assisted.
Adamson’s goal is to continue the Contact Center’s programs as
effectively as possible. She wants the department to continue being an
encouraging word for those who need it and to keep people from being
hungry or losing their home. “It’s always, hopefully, to keep it from
happening to them a 2nd or 3rd time,” she explained.
Volunteers are always welcome to help with the program. They’ve
had an array of volunteers over the years: individuals, college students,
organizations, community service individuals, scouts and food drives.
They currently have a gentleman that volunteers a few times per week to
stock their shelves and rotate the items by expiration date. Volunteering
is just one simple step. “Just call us,” she smiled. “We’d be happy to visit
with you.”
As she reflected on many rewarding moments, she mentioned a
phone call she received one rainy afternoon from a gentleman who had
just been given a ride home from the hospital. He normally purchased
groceries to be delivered by Hy-Vee, but he missed the cut off. Because
he had been gone for several days, he didn’t have much to eat and his
condition left him unable to leave his house.
Though they don’t make deliveries, because of this man’s apparent
need, Adamson and co-worker Stanage packed some items for the man
and delivered them to him. She was speechless as she tried to explain
this man’s extremely grateful reaction. “(Stanage and I) were both on
cloud 9 all weekend.”
If you need assistance from the Contact Center, please stop in and
talk with them; they will try to help you get back on your feet. They are
located at 321 West 3rd Street in the lower level of the Yankton County
Government Center or call them at 605-260-4400, extension 2. They
are open Monday through Friday from 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM and 1:00
PM - 5:00 PM. You can also find information on their Facebook page,
“Yankton Contact Center.”
She leaves me with one final thought. “We are a one of a kind, kind of
everything place,” she smiled. “We’d be happy to talk to anybody. We are
an emergency, today type of emergency, place. Don’t lose your housing,
don’t get your utilities shut off, don’t go without food, there’s no reason
for that. Come here, come talk to us, we’d be more than happy to do
what we can for anybody that needs us.” n
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