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Takin it to the Streets includes massive canned food collection
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A small army of 400 volunteers is being assembled to fan out over Manteca on Sunday, Oct. 9, to collect canned food donations in a bid to help feed the community’s needy.

It is one of 25 Takin’ It to the Streets projects being pursued by Crossroads Grace Community Church by having its congregation join forces with community volunteers to make a difference in Manteca and Ripon.

It is the same effort that planted 300 trees along the Tidewater Bikeway’s Moffat Boulevard leg two years ago. It effectively saved the city thousands upon thousands of dollars and made it possible to do a project that otherwise may not have been done due to budget shortfalls.

Organizers are hoping that people who can spare food will place the donations on their porches for collection or else drop items by the Golden West School parking lot that morning. The collected items will go to 10 food closets that serve the needy in Manteca.

Overall, the goal is to mobilize 1,500 volunteers to make a difference.

The next biggest need for volunteers is 450 to spruce up the bike trail landscaping.

Other projects include helping several people with house and yard projects who are enduring chemo and cancer or else are widowed and elderly and can’t do the work themsleves nor afford to have it done for them.

Volunteers are needed to serve a meal to the homeless at Library Park, spray painting fire hydrants, work on improvement projects at the HOPE homeless shelters, spreading bark at five playgrounds in city parks around Manteca, spruce up the parking lot landscaping at Woodward Park, and visit patients at Manteca Rehabilitation Care center.

Volunteers also will assist with helping clean up and organized the Second Harvest Food bank as well as retrieve illegally dumped items on county roads around Manteca and Ripon.

In Ripon, volunteers are needed to clean up graffiti and to help beautify the Ripon bike trail. Help is also needed at Assist International Warehouse.

Takin’ it to the Streets is an outgrowth of the church’s Second Saturday community service day that also enlists volunteers from within the church and the community to work side by side helping improve Manteca.

A complete list of projects plus information on how to help is available by going to www.october9.org