Janesville’s Fourth Ward neighborhood is hurting from the economic downturn during the coronavirus outbreak, but a group of community members are stepping in to help.
They call themselves the Fourth Ward Neighborhood Action Team, an informal organization of a few dozen residents who try and lend a helping hand to their neighbors in need.
With COVID-19 shutting down work and school for many residents, the action team is taking it upon themselves to distribute free food at Fourth Ward Park.
Organizer John Mansur said Father Earl Sias from the All Saints Anglican Church in Janesville provided them with leftover non-perishable food from a recent cooking class held at the church.
The neighborhood group organized a giveaway on March 29, and they’re preparing another curbside food pickup on the morning of Saturday, April 11 from 10:00-11:00 a.m.
Mansur said the first distribution was a cold and windy Sunday, so turnout was lower than they had hoped.
The action team is hoping to make a bigger impact the second time around, working with more churches in the area to collect food and spread the word.
For next Saturday’s curbside pickup, they hope to also distribute 10-20 full Easter meals with ham or turkey and side dishes to boot, in addition to dozens of bags of food and some Easter candy.
Mansur asks anyone interested in helping to reach out to the Fourth Ward Neighborhood Action Team through its Facebook page.
