Larose bakery is closed to all but curbside pickup, meaning the parking lot is pretty well empty. On weekends the Optimist Club of Milton takes a corner of it with a trailer, and a couple of tables for their weekly food drive.

It’s been running for the last five weeks. “We saw there was a need. We did it, and it’s gone over well,” Keith Lamson said. Lamson is a past President with Optimist Club, and works in Food Safety. They started collecting for the pantry at Grace Anglican Church, and the Salvation Army which was running low on food donations The group has taken a couple of truckloads to the Salvation Army’s food bank.

“They’ve contacted us if they’re in need,” Optimist Club President Lynn Bousfield said. The last two weeks, they’ve been gathering donations for the Milton Community Resource Centre’s Infant food drive. The six foot social distancing measures are strictly observed. “Just drop it, and go,” Lamson said of dropping of donations. Volunteers stay in their cars and watch as people drop donations off on the two wooden table, and after the cars leave volunteers sort the donations.

“It’s Miltonians helping Miltonians,” Lamson explained. They will also pick donations from your home, and all drivers are observing social distancing rules as well. They recommend several homes gather donations and use a single address for a pick-up location. Larose bakery is giving them leftover bread at the end of the day.

The Club is also working with the Italian Canadian Club of Milton (ICCM) on a Food kitchen modelled on the soup kitchens found in the Great Depression. Those in need of food will be able to call and order a frozen entrée. “This is not going to go away short-term,” Lamson said. After the province re-opens he’s expecting some to have trouble putting food on the table. “We’re in it for the long haul,” he said.

We got to help each other out,” Bousfield said. To learn more about their food drive visit their Facebook page at: www. facebook.com/optimistclubofmilton. They post a list of what’s needed every week, and the name of the charity that will benefit.

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