Luba Klimashenko: Doing What She Can for the Community.

When Luba Klimashenko first moved to America in 1996, someone told her about the Food Closet which helped her family when they needed it. Today, Luba and her two eldest children deliver food from SSIP to families in need.

Through her church ministering to Russian, Moldavian and Ukranian immigrants, Luba met with families who lost their jobs, had pre-existing health conditions or were elderly and could not drive. She took SSIP brochures to help her church community know there was help if they were experiencing food insecurity.

In response to the constraints of the pandemic, SSIP established a 3rd party agency process so that multiple orders (up to eight per day per agency) could be picked up and delivered to those home-bound and sheltering-in-place. Luba now serves 45-60 families per week.

As strangers in a strange land, Luba remembers what it was like to receive help from generous people who provided food and clothing for her family of six. Along with her daughter, 18, and son, 17, they are passing forward their gratitude by delivering food to those in need, including taking all necessary safety precautions in these times. Luba confides that her children have sometimes cried when viewing the situations confronted by so many in the community.