The coronavirus pandemic was in its early stages but Heather Ochoa already had noticed the need for food was growing. She began laying out food from her pantry and extra groceries on a table in her driveway in Oakley, California to help feed those in need. Social media posts and word-of-mouth helped spread the word that Ochoa, a mother of four, who had been laid off from her job at a local school, almost always had food to spare.
When her homeowners association cited her for having food on the porch, almost 1,850 community members signed a petition supporting her work. Ochoa now has a shorter, less visible table and at an HOA hearing set for later this month she intends to request a humanitarian exception so she can keep her pantry during the pandemic.
“Heather Ochoa has selflessly volunteered to organize a food pantry at her home for those in need during these unprecedented times of this pandemic,” Jeanne Reeves wrote in the petition she launched three months ago. “We support Heather in this act of selfless kindness 100% and we do not want her cited or asked to change her set up for providing this food to our community.”
Realizing many of the city’s older residents did not drive or have the means to get to the church, and others could not make it during giveaway hours, the young mom began a delivery service to distribute the food. Ochoa’s pantry and her food deliveries to those who couldn’t come to her has been so successful, that she now has her own Facebook group, “The pantry … Where God guides, He provides,” to share news about her daily food giveaways. A nonprofit by the same name is also in the works and friends have started a GoFundMe page to help with legal expenses.
Every day Ochoa picks up donations of food that is about to expire from stores and bakeries, which she either delivers to those who need it or adds to her porch pantry, open daily from 1 to 8 p.m. She has regular stops on different days, bringing food to elderly families in Brentwood and Bethel Island and to families with children. In addition to delivering to individuals, Ochoa often visits area homeless encampments to give out leftover food and, sometimes, can openers.
Ochoa said she and others, including churches and nonprofits, “work in unity with each other.” So when the others have leftovers, she often picks them up to add to her pantry, and when they’re out of food they may send clients to her.
“Driving around to Brentwood, Oakley, Discovery Bay, Pittsburg, Antioch and Concord — that’s what I do,” she said. “I love going to their houses and meeting them and giving them food. Not everyone can afford a car…. I help a lot of families that are cancer-stricken or have an illness, are disabled or elderly. Some can’t afford groceries for a week or they can’t apply for food stamps or government help. There are so many outlets out there,” Ochoa said. “There is no reason for anyone to be hungry anymore.”
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In an effort to broaden the company’s “social interaction” with our clients and FaceBook fans, Daily Trivia Questions are posted on both of our business pages. Here are the weekly standings for this past week, and the winner of the Sunday night Weekly Drawing for an AmEx gift card!
Congratulations – To this past week’s Trivia Contest Winner!! Our latest contest winner for the weekly FaceBook HealthInsurance4Everyone/Health & Life Solutions, LLC Trivia Contest, drawn randomly by computer late Sunday evening, September 10th, 2017 was:
NIKKI HUNSACKER
Victorville, CA
Winner Of A $25.00 AmEx Gift Card
Each day, fans who have “liked” either of our company FaceBook pages (HealthInsurance4Everyone or Health & Life Solutions LLC) are able to test their skills with our Daily TRIVIA QUESTION. The first 20 winners who post the correct answer to the TRIVIA QUESTION, will then get entered into the weekly drawing held late on Sunday evenings for a $25.00 Am Ex Gift. Card
Weekly Gift Card winners will be posted in our blog at this site. Remember to become a FaceBook “fan” on either of our company pages to enter and post your answers.
Here are the daily contestants from last week’s Trivia Contest that were entered into the Sunday drawing:
9/4/17
Brittany Marie Thompson
April Ashcraft
Darlene Whyte
Crystal Marie
Ashley Stamey Phillips
Amy Marie Wilkinson
Valerie Kuehn
Kelly Jo Francisco
Jennifer Kinner
Jade Good
Christy Hawkes
Jennifer Marie
Crystal Young
Sherry Lilly
Dawn Raasch
Jenny Merritt
Michelle R. Carlino
Nai Merri
Jennifer Setsor Mallon
Karen Rimiller Presley
Kellina Fernell Murphy
Nikki Hunsacker
9/5/17
Anna Nichols
Mya Murphy
Heather Victoria Graves
Sheila Carvell
Kimberly Taylor Hall
Kelly Jo Francisco
Sunney Michelle Johnson
Hayley Cordaro
Benjamin Odell
Mary Mcmenamy
Tonya Velazquez
Dale Fish
Brian Fulop
Patricia Oehlert Vazquez
Alicia Johnson
Mary Ann Cody
Bea Patrick
Cassandra Berholtz
Amanda Rosario
Emily Rice Bowersock
Lisa A Mazola
Deborah Farris
9/6/17
Melissa White
Amy Marie Wilkinson
Kristina Rosson
Alexis Maureen
Paula Rousseau
Mya Murphy
Jennifer Marie
Darbie Brown
Cheryl Hall
Beata Tybor
Christina Radcliff
Belinda Haas
Deborah Farris
Karen Bondehagen
Samantha Brwn
Kendra George
Trish Musgrave
Dawn Raasch
Dale Fish
Katt Keane
Stephanie Beckwith
Bethany Henry
Diane Hamric
Beth Epley Minton
9/7/17
Sheila Carvell
Kimberly Snyder
D.b. Snyder
Jan Lehman
9/8/17
Melissa Barnes Walker
Jennifer Marie
Sherri Kidwell
Alicia Smith
Deborah Farris
Jacqlyn Gummert
Kimberly Necolie Garrasi
Beth Embrey
Melissa Ann Stura-Bassett
Joe Nemeth
Amy Marie Wilkinson
Amy Conyers
Shameka Barnes
Sunney Michelle Johnson
Charlotte Dennis
Mya Murphy
Carole Jacobs
Katherine Oliveira
Christy Hawkes
Brigette Oster
Allison Frederick
9/9/17
Katrina Worford
Amy Marie Wilkinson
Melissa D’Ornellas Curtis
Michelle Cervantes
Kristina Harris
Anne Delos Reyes-Villafuerte
Tiffany Banks
Cheryl Hall
Becca Neuenschwander Long
Sherri Kidwell
Jenifer Garza
Trish Musgrave
Susanne Killion
Alexandra Vindiola
Steve Hardy
Michelle Rayeske-Jeske
Priscilla Shimp
Beth Cleveland
Joanie Waterman
Brandi K Chaney
9/10/17
Sunney Michelle Johnson
Tonya Velazquez
Kathleen Newell
Cheryl Hall
Amanda Peters
Trish Musgrave
Kelly Jo Francisco
Brian Fulop
Helen Robinson
Brandy Williams
Crystal Young
Sheila Carvell
Sheri Boydston
Becca Holland-Cowling
Kristina Harris
Chelcie Malow
Emily Rice Bowersock
Wendy Messer-Brinnon
Stephanie Beckwith
Althea Thomas
Marilyn Wall
Adaria Johnson
Be sure to watch both of our FaceBook pages for your chance to win and enter again next week, with questions posted daily on HealthInsurance4Everyone or at Health & Life Solutions, LLC!!
Remember that if you try your hand at answering the Trivia Question several days each week, your odds of winning the Sunday weekly drawing are much better. Also note that a number of the posted answers each day are from contestants who have forgotten to “Like” one of our pages, so their names WILL NOT be entered at the end week drawing for the gift card, giving our fans a better chance!
You may also find that if you “Like” BOTH of the business pages, you will receive faster notifications of the other players as they post their answers to compete with you!
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