Bonsack Walmart employees receive dozens of lunches thanks to Food for Frontline donations

ROANOKE COUNTY, Va. – Local restaurants have delivered nearly 1,000 meals to essential workers thanks to your donations.

Food for Frontline stopped by the Bonsack Walmart on Monday with a favorite Mexican dish.

Wiping carts at the door and filling online orders are just a few of the routines Walmart employees find themselves in since the pandemic began.

Quickl,y we all realized just how essential grocery store employees are.

“You come to work every day and you don’t really think of yourself as an essential worker, but at the time when everybody’s looking for toilet paper, paper towels or sanitizer, you know, we were the front line and we still are the front line,” said Bonsack Walmart Store Manager Annette Verplanken.

Thanking those who are working extra is what Food for Frontline is all about.

“I can tell my associates every day thank you, but to have somebody else on the outside say it means a whole lot more,” Verplanken said.

Monday, Rodeo Chico in Daleville dropped off 120 arroz con pollo lunches to the hard workers at Walmart.

Food for Frontline is also all about supporting local restaurants.

“Every little bit helps. We're trying to keep it altogether,” said Maria Arellano, Rodeo Chico General manager.

Arellano said when restaurants first shut down, the future looked bleak.

"The game changer for us as a Mexican restaurant was when we got to do the margaritas to go. I didn't think the governor was ever going to do that because I was like, this is Virginia," said Arellano.

Now, they’re filling large orders and looking forward to Friday when Phase One begins.


About the Author:

After working and going to school in Central Virginia for over five years, Lindsey’s made her way back home to the mountains.