This is what kindness in action can do:
Cliff Strand Jr., 50, is an employee for White Pony Express in Pleasant Hill, Calif.
I’m a product of what White Pony Express does for people. About six years ago, one of our executives found me under a bridge in Richmond, Calif., and brought me baskets of food. I was a strung-out-of-my-mind drug addict with a dark soul, ready to die. He helped me. This is absolutely my mission. It’s not a job. I’m supremely blessed to be able to do this.
Not for a minute did I consider staying home during this outbreak. It takes that level of fear down to show people that we’re out here and taking the right precautions. I change my gloves at every location and wear a mask.
I delivered food to the local shelter, the Contra Costa Interim Housing Shelter, and there’s over 100 people in there. I know those people; they’re my friends. Now they’re behind a wall to prevent the virus from spreading. It brought me to tears. We’re flashing up heart signs and saying, ‘I love you’ through the wall. I was crying, but it wasn’t because there was fear. There’s love going on in this whole thing. —As told to Jamie Ducharme
[White Pony Express collects excess food from restaurants, grocery stores and distributors, and delivers it to people and organizations in need. During the outbreak, they’ve rescued about 17,000 pounds of food per day instead of their usual 7,000.]
12 Stories of Frontline Workers Helping Others During Coronavirus
Cliff Strand Jr., 50, is an employee for White Pony Express in Pleasant Hill, Calif.
I’m a product of what White Pony Express does for people. About six years ago, one of our executives found me under a bridge in Richmond, Calif., and brought me baskets of food. I was a strung-out-of-my-mind drug addict with a dark soul, ready to die. He helped me. This is absolutely my mission. It’s not a job. I’m supremely blessed to be able to do this.
Not for a minute did I consider staying home during this outbreak. It takes that level of fear down to show people that we’re out here and taking the right precautions. I change my gloves at every location and wear a mask.
I delivered food to the local shelter, the Contra Costa Interim Housing Shelter, and there’s over 100 people in there. I know those people; they’re my friends. Now they’re behind a wall to prevent the virus from spreading. It brought me to tears. We’re flashing up heart signs and saying, ‘I love you’ through the wall. I was crying, but it wasn’t because there was fear. There’s love going on in this whole thing. —As told to Jamie Ducharme
[White Pony Express collects excess food from restaurants, grocery stores and distributors, and delivers it to people and organizations in need. During the outbreak, they’ve rescued about 17,000 pounds of food per day instead of their usual 7,000.]
12 Stories of Frontline Workers Helping Others During Coronavirus
