Coronavirus Florida: Tequesta Paralympian Holding Food Drive
Palm Beach Post – 04/24/2020
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TEQUESTA — Looking for a meaningful, but safe, reason to get out of the house this weekend?
A Tequesta-based non-profit organization is holding a food drive Saturday and Sunday to stock area food pantries that are strapped for supplies as the coronavirus pandemic puts people out of work.
The organization, Shifting Gears United, is led by Jacqui Kapinowski, a two-time U.S. Paralympian paralyzed from the chest down who lives in Tequesta.
Kapinowski said she started calling around to local food pantries in late March and learned that many had depleted inventories as more people depended on them for food.
“The pantries are empty and they need to be filled,” said Kapinowski, 57. “And that’s what my goal is.”
The drive runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 107 Fairview West in Tequesta on Saturday and Sunday.
A drop-off table will be set up at the foot of the driveway there and volunteers will collect the goods as donors drive away.
Kapinowski, who also leads handcycle and kayak programs for those with disabilities in the area, suggests donating non-perishable goods, such as canned foods, peanut butter and boxed pasta.
“People are already dropping things off,” she said. “The garage already has cases of food in it. It’s unbelievable.”
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@SamuelHHoward