Hope Express aims to ‘feed everybody in need every day

Yuba Sutter Salvation Army delivers meals to the community’s unhoused individuals.

BY KAREN GLEASON

Weekdays, Melissa Evangelista is up by about 5 a.m. She picks up the Hope Express delivery truck from The Salvation Army Depot Family Crisis Center transitional shelter program and then heads to the Yuba Sutter (California) Corps’ kitchen to prepare the day’s meals.

“My goal is to feed everybody,” said Evangelista, who has a background in food service. As the Yuba Sutter Corps’ Homeless Outreach Liaison, Evangelista coordinates the Hope Express initiative, which launched in April and aims to provide food security for the community’s unhoused individuals.

Currently Hope Express provides food for individuals at four shelters in Northern California, two in Sutter County and two in Yuba County.

“We’re providing hot, prepared meals Monday through Friday; then we also give them a sack lunch for dinner,” Yuba Sutter Corps Officer Major Julius Murphy said. “Each day they get two meals, and on Friday we give them enough food for the weekend. So we provide food, two meals a day, seven days a week for this population.”

That’s a lot of time in the kitchen. Murphy said Hope Express has provided an average of 7,000 meals a month since its April launch.

“I prepare meals for almost 200 people a day,” Evangelista said. “I dedicate my time to cook in the morning. I just focus. If I don’t focus, and I don’t have what I need, guess what? Someone’s not going to get fed. My goal is to feed everybody that comes to our truck. It’s a really big thing. And I’m honored to do it.”

Evangelista gets help from family members and from Yuba Sutter Corps staff and volunteers, including the corps’ Emergency Disaster Services team. They assist with meal preparation and food service.

“Once we prep everything and have everything in the truck—the main meal, the sandwich meal, water, fruit—we go to our first site at 11 a.m.,” she said.

It’s a tight schedule. Hope Express stays at each site for 30 minutes. Two of the sites are open to anyone, beyond those staying at the shelter. She said clients look for ways to show their appreciation, often asking how they can help. She often has assistance carrying water and cases of fruit.

“They help me in many ways and they don’t have to,” she said. “I’m supposed to be here serving them.”

Among those from the larger community who came for food is a single mother. Evangelista recalled that although the woman had a place to live, she had trouble making ends meet and did not qualify for CalFresh, California’s food stamp program. “She would come every Friday to get food for the weekend,” Evangelista said. “She told me she didn’t know what they would have done without that help.”

“I was very overwhelmed with gratitude because our doors never stopped having people come for that whole week,” she said.

Soon, the amount of donations surpassed the amount that had been stolen.

“The Lord multiplied that [$5,000] by I think even four times that. The last time I heard, we had received close to $20,000,” Raghel Santiago said. “When I saw how many people still love the Army and support the Army my heart was so blessed.”

With that money, the corps was able to purchase all of the backpacks and school supplies again. And although the back-to-school distribution event was delayed by a week, they were still able to help 302 kids in the community. Additionally, the corps was able to use some of the extra money to buy clothing and shoes for children who needed those items for school, too.

When they were organizing all the back-to-school items again after repurchasing them, Richey said a family stopped by and the corps was able to give them school supplies.

“They were thrilled. They said, ‘We heard about the break-in and it’s so nice that you still could help us,’” Richey said. “[The mom] was really happy. She said the backpacks were what her kids really needed for school… And to see that family’s faces, it was really a joy.” NFC

|PHOTO BY MELISSA EVANGELISTA

Interactions like this keep Evangelista going—her motivation stays high. She admitted her job can sometimes be stressful in the morning, when she considers the task before her. “But knowing that people are going to get fed…that just makes the difference,” she said.

These days, lines form at the shelters before Hope Express arrives. Murphy said funding for Hope Express comes from a federal grant administered by the state. Originally the project was set to end in September.

“But in God’s economy, he upsized that and it’s extended until next September,” he said, noting plans to request additional funds to further extend the program. “Our plan is to keep it operational, indefinitely…The community is really responding well, not just those who participate in the program, but also our community partners and our donors. They're seeing what we’re doing, and it’s unique.” NFC

Las Vegas Salvation Army Thrift Store partners with influencers from Thrifters Anonymous to debut a hand-selected clothing rack twice a month.

BY LOU BUHL

Instead of scouring through every item in The Salvation Army Las Vegas Thrift Store on East Silverado Ranch Boulevard, shoppers can head straight for the hand-picked selections of Shana Dahan and Edwina Registre. The Thrifters Anonymous duo selected their favorite pieces to showcase.

“It's one of our favorite places and it's something we always wanted to do,” Registre said.

“Our dream has come true,” Dahan added. “The hope is that people will go to The Salvation Army and know where the money is going—to help people in the community.”

More than 10 years ago, when Dahan and Registre began making YouTube videos to share their thrifting adventures and styling tips—Dahan said trips to Salvation Army thrift stores often went unrecorded because they considered the stores their “secret thrifting” spots.

“We didn't like to film there,” Dahan said, mentioning how she feared others would come to snag the best items before them. Registre said she also noticed how Salvation Army thrift stores receive “different types of donations,” including quality vintage items.

“The generation that grew up with The Salvation Army—the older generation, the baby boomers—you can tell the quality of items they give versus the other competing stores that receive most of the new items that are quickly discarded,” said Registre,