M'ville business hands out food to local families

Marysville Toyota partners with the Salvation Army to help families, individuals in need

The Salvation Army and Marysville Toyota teamed up to hand out boxes of food to local families and individuals on Jan. 15.

“We call it our day of service,” said Jim Colon, co-owner of the local business.

Colon and the second co-owner Perry Watson III are part of the Toyota Lexus Minority Owners Dealership Association and many of those dealerships across the nation took part in giving back to their community on Jan. 15, said Colon.

On this food giveaway day the dealership brought in about 200 boxes of food and coloring books for kids.

The food was nonperishable items, but grocery assistance was given for other items.

“We’re making sure they are getting a $20 gift card as well for Kroger, QFC or Fred Meyer, that way they can buy milk and meat,” said Shaun Jones, the service extension director and disaster director for the Northwest Division of the Salvation Army.

This is the second time the two organizations have partnered to provide food, with the last event being in May 2020.

During that giveaway the business handed out 240 boxes of food throughout the day.

“The Salvation Army is out doing this every day trying to meet the food needs of those in Marysville and Snohomish County,” said Colon.

“It’s part of our partnership with Toyota. They contacted us and wanted to do something with the community,” said Jones.

Residents and families in need drove through one of the dealership’s garages to receive food from volunteers organized by the Salvation Army.

The Toyota dealership provided the funding for the effort.

“In COVID time it is sort of hard to buy in bulk, so that is appreciated” said Jones.

The Salvation Army has been just one of many organizations that have had to provide a lot of assistance at this time, he said.

“We’re finding out, especially during COVID, that there has been gaps in services and people have not been able to feed themselves with what’s out there,” said Jones.

“Food bank numbers are skyrocketing … we’re seeing people coming in that have never needed assistance before,” he said. “In today’s society, it just hurts my heart to see people that don’t have food so we’re doing what we can to help."

Last year the Marysville Toyota also donated about $5,000 to the Marysville Community Food Bank.

Watson said the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have shown him how many people were close to instability.

“The thing that has been eye-opening during the pandemic is just the food deficit,” he said. “I never thought that would be an issue in America. Just the small impact that we can have is humbling and gratifying."