Kudos: El Dorado County Probation Department hosts Bread & Broth Monday Meal

According to Vanessa Wood, Supervising Deputy Probation Officer, “The El Dorado County Probation Department sponsored the Adopt A Day event on July 22 in memory of our co-worker, Desiree Wright, who passed away in February 2024.” Desiree had participated in the Probation Department’s Adopt A Day of Nourishment sponsorship in July of 2023 and “the extra Probation Department members showed up to honor Desiree at this year’s sponsorship meal.” In addition to Vanessa, those honorees included Brian Richart, Chief Probation Officer, Pat Adams, Forrest Andra, Destiny Burress, Maggie Smith, Jorge Soriano, and Julie Wyatt. Hosting a Monday Meal, which served 82 community members a hot, nutritious meal this week, is a wonderful tribute to someone very special to her co-workers.

To sponsor the dinner, Vanessa collected $350 from the El Dorado County Probation Department members to cover the sponsorship donation. Also, due to sponsoring the meal in honor of Desiree, an extra three department members joined the Bread & Broth volunteers in serving a restaurant-quality meal and giving out “food giveaway” bags to help the dinner guests with food for the remainder of the week. The bags are filled with dairy products (milk, eggs, butter), fresh fruit and vegetables, meat, breads and pastries, and various food staples which often the dinner guests are unable to afford at the grocery store.

“We were amazed by all of the good food served and taken home by the community members attending the dinner,” said Vanessa.

It was a pleasure having the El Dorado County Probation Department volunteer members at the meal and they were very welcoming to the evening’s dinner guests, in some instances, greeting dinner guests that they knew from the community. “The eight probation officers and staff were all very pleased with their experience,” shared Vanessa. “As members of the probation department, we appreciated being able to serve our community in a different capacity.”

Thank you to the El Dorado County Probation Department members for their efforts to help community members not only lead productive and happy lives but also enjoy a great meal and community camaraderie.

For information on volunteer and donation opportunities, please www.breadandbroth.org

(In the picture above, left to right: Julie Wyatt, Pat Adams, Destiny Burress, Maggie Smith, Jorge Soriano, Brian Richart, Forrest Andra, Vanessa Wood).

- Bread & Broth