GoServ Global, home office located in Eagle Grove, has been raising money for COVID-19 relief to provide help for people who are starving overseas during these difficult times. In the countries that they serve – Haiti, India, Peru, Guatemala and Uganda. In these places, there are no food pantries. There are no unemployment checks coming in the mail. There is no COVID compensation or stimulus checks to help them purchase food.
“Most people only make enough money today to buy food tomorrow,” stated Paul van Gorkom, executive director of GoServ Global. A lot of the monetary donations they receive from people all over the U.S are given with stipulations that it be used to help a certain country. But van Gorkom is pleased to say that many others come with no restrictions at all, allowing them to use the money wherever and whenver it is most needed.
“We’ve had so much money come in since COVID that we thought we should help locally as well,” said van Gorkum very happily that GoServ could make a difference right here in Eagle Grove.
Of course, GoServe has helped with many unseen/unkown projects in Eagle Grove and surrounding areas, but a donation to the Food Pantry in Eagle Grove was just another way of reaching out and helping those in need.
On Wednesday, July 1, van Gorkum, along with Nancy Strub who is the president of the Eagle Grove Area Ministerial Association (EGAMA), presented a check for $2,000 to Marcella Johnson – a volunteer at the EGAMA Food Pantry in Eagle Grove. According to Johnston, they have been averaging 35 families a month since COVID who are coming in for help – and most of them are large families. She also stated that before COVID, families were only allowed to come in every three months, but are now temporarily being allowed to come in more often than that due to the pandemic.
Johnson also noted that donations are down at the food pantry, perhaps as a result of lost jobs or decreased wages with COVID, and partially because churches, who are a large supporter of the Eagle Grove Food Pantry, have not been meeting during COVID, and therefore have not been collecting as much food. That is why she is especially grateful for the extra $2,000 from GoServ.
If you can make a contribution to help feed a hungry family, please consider doing so. You can contact Johnson for more details.
