“The Food Pantry is open,” said Dena Ploetz, founder and president of Helping Hands Sonoita, the organization that oversees the Food Pantry at the intersection of Hwys. 82 and 83 in Sonoita, providing free food for residents of eastern Santa Cruz County. Recent turmoil at the newly established Wellness Center, which had been collaborating with the Food Pantry, has resulted in its abrupt closure. Wellness Center Director Daniel Blevins has formally resigned, and collaboration between the Pantry and the Wellness Center has ended.
“We are moving forward and will be fine,” Ploetz said. “There are so many families in our community depending on the Pantry.”
The Cowboy Church and many others have stepped in to offer their support, Ploetz said, with an electrician volunteering to install the electric service in the Pantry building next to the Corner Scoop.
“We will move the fridge/freezer from the Wellness Center to the Pantry,” Ploetz said, “so our patrons will continue to have access to milk, meat and fresh produce, along with all the other food available at the Pantry.”
There will be full coverage of this breaking story in the January PRT.
Previously in the PRT: