Two local social workers are have come up with a scheme to help feed the needy while also lending a hand to community restaurants whose dining rooms have been shuttered by the city’s new coronavirus guidelines.
Last Saturday, Darrell Parsons and Kimberly Goodwin delivered 120 box lunches purchased from WD Deli and delivered them to SAMMinistries for distribution to homeless families.
“This was an impromptu and out of the blue effort started by myself and fellow social worker and friend Kimberly Goodwin.” Parsons told Out In SA. “It was her idea after I posted something on Facebook about helping those in need. She reached out to me and asked me if I would partner with her in delivering food to those in need.”
“Saturday was such a great success. We delivered over $1000 in lunches,” Parsons added. The money was raised from donations from friends and colleagues. Parsons and Goodwin have decided to continue the effort and have set a goal of $5000 to keep it going as long as they can. They have set up a PayPal fundraising page titled Neighbors Helping Neighbors.
For their next effort, Parsons and Goodwin plan offer support to Luther’s Café. They are working with Marta Prada Peláez, president/CEO to provide a Sunday dinner to clients of Family Violence Prevention Services (the battered women and children’s center).
Activism of this sort is nothing new to Parson’s and Goodwin. Parsons is a counselor and psychotherapist in private practice. He was formerly board president of Fiesta Youth and most recently organizer of the Rainbow Coalition, a political group that worked to help re-elect Mayor Ron Nirenberg.
Goodwin is the clinical director of Mind Your Self, a locally owned and operated private group mental health practice. She serves the LGBTQ community with Pride Center San Antonio and is a board member of Fiesta Youth.
“We invite you to join us,” Parsons said in a post on Facebook. “We invite you to engage. We invite you to participate in building the city that we all deserve . . . With all of the sadness in the world right now, let’s do what we can, to bring out a little happiness.”
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