A photo of my West Virginia hometown first. While WV has breathtaking natural beauty like Summersville Lake, there is nothing natural about not having enough food to feed you or your family. During this global pandemic, food banks are a necessity in communities now more than ever, and donations are keeping them afloat.

I highlighted Feed The Frontlines NYC, a project that provides meals for their medical professionals working with coronavirus patients, in another blog post. I gave info to donate directly to them.

I wanted to do more. So I have started two online shops.

One is the WV STAYED HOME shop with multiple items for my home state. You just purchase an item like you normally do online. With credit card or by PayPal. CafePress handles the transaction. I designed the slogan and CafePress makes and prints the items and ships them straight to you. CafePress also handles any issues and returns.

This is a for-profit store so I will receive a percentage of each sale. In turn, I will donate to WV food banks directly from the proceeds.

I cannot issue a tax receipt. If you would like to donate to food banks directly that is welcome and immediate. Here are two I have chosen right now in my hometown area of WV.

Friends recommended these. Either purchase items from my shop or here is info to donate direct.

Richwood Food Bank c/o New Life Assembly of God. 1177 Houston Memorial Dr., Summersville, WV 26651. Donate online at Tithe.ly or with their app to New Life’s food bank. You’ll have to sign up to get a password. Then type in New Life Assembly of God. Pay by credit card. Then choose General Fund option and write Richwood Food Bank in the memo section. You may also mail a donation.

I used this online church donation site with no problem. Very easy. Thousands of churches have signed up to use it within the last 30 days due to congregations attending church online.  

Bread of Life Food Pantry, c/o Summersville Presbyterian Church. 427 Water St. P. O. Box 930, Summersville, WV 26651. Please mail a donation and include a note that your donation is for their Bread of Life Food Pantry. I am waiting on word for an online way to donate. They give away food on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9 am until noon.

I started a second shop Gena In General on CafePress with more encompassing slogans for us all. I Stayed Home, We Stayed Home and I Stayed At Work For You. There are stickers and coffee mugs available. I will add a couple more products to this shop.

I added a few tailored to cities where I used to live such as Chicago and St. Louis. And my daughter lived in NYC and Chicago, five years each, graduating from universities in both cities. Ursula currently lives in Los Angeles where she is Staying At Home since early March now with her partner Emerson. When visiting her this time last year, I could have never imagined all of this. And I can’t imagine people going hungry either.

Proceeds from this shop will go to FEED THE FRONTLINES NYC and a couple of other food projects and food banks. I will list them in a later blog post.

I am not a graphic designer, but with the CafePress design tools, I can design the slogans virtually. The company’s mission is to create human connection by inspiring people to express themselves. I couldn’t think of a better mission right now, can you? 

While all these services provide a job to people, some people have lost their jobs in the manufacturing industry during this global pandemic. Some companies work with smaller crews now also.

That’s why shipping dates are currently mid May to mid June. Normally, it only takes a few days to receive CafePress items. This really drives home how the world is affected by the pandemic. A customer sent a photo of the coffee mug received so the product looked good.

Past tense is the best tense for this global pandemic. I Stayed Home. We Stayed Home. You Stayed Home. Hopefully, by the time that you receive these items, we will be back to a more normal life. 

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On my website Shop page, I choose an organization to ‘share’ with each month before you shop for books, stories and films. Last month, we raised $200 through book sales and donations for the Country Fire Services Foundation, which aids South Australia firefighters and their families.

On behalf of Ursula’s film CRICK IN THE HOLLER , with Gena In General, we are making a donation to Feed The Frontlines NYC and food banks this week. Cast and crew- 83 folks- are from NYC, Chicago and WV and the film was made in my home state. The film is online at Seed & Spark. By viewing this film and others on this site, you are supporting freelance and independent filmmakers, as productions have stopped during this pandemic. With the exception of news programs and some talks shows. Thanks for your help!

Please Stay Home during the pandemic and please be safe. Food bank volunteers are mission essential, so if you need food please use social distancing and a mask when you pick up food. Honestly, I feel quite helpless some days. I hope this gives you a way to help out, too. Thank you!