Spirits were high but so was the mercury at the Pierce County Food Pantry's drive through event last Friday. Vehicles gathered in the empty field behind where the Grady Street school used to stand and volunteers gathered in the Blackshear Church of God's parking lot, all simmering underneath the pitiless summer sun.
Bananas, watermelon, corn, eggplant, bell pepper, green beans, bread, canned goods and more were distributed to a seemingly endless string of cars exiting the crowded field and making their way down the merciful shade of Johns street before turning right and emerging back into the unfiltered rays of the sun.
There were the usual snags and hiccups. Some drivers did not have their forms properly filled out, a missing phone number here, an unsigned paper there. A rare few exceeded the income requirements set to qualify for nutrition assistance. But the biggest hurdle to overcome was the omnipresent heat.
