Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/1314457
Giving from the Heart ALL-IN Monterey County Shares Kindness with the Community B Y B R E T T W I L B U R Photo: Kelli Uldall ALL-IN is run by an all-volunteer group of locals: (Front Row) Chris Haubert, Tanya Kosta, Karen Blackwell, Yesenia Velvarde, Pam Ness, Jessica Faddis, Mary Jane Fernandez. (Back Row) Natalie Zwingman, Carmen Fergusen, Johnny Foster. W hen Monterey County's shelter-in- place orders went into effect last March due to the outbreak of COVID-19, Tanya Kosta, a longtime local volun- teer, took an assessment of the drastic changes and needs in the community. "There was so much uncertainty about how long the shutdown would last," she recalls. "People with good intentions were knocking on seniors' doors and leaving notes in their mail- boxes to offer to help with grocery shopping. But Legal Services for Seniors, where I volun- teer, was getting phone calls from terrified sen- iors not knowing if there were people trying to take advantage of them." Kosta started a Facebook page called ALL-IN Monterey County to organize volunteers to deliver groceries and talked to community meal provider Dorothy's Kitchen to help with prepar- ing sack lunches. "I told them we would do 1,200 sandwiches a week," she says. Kosta also helped provide meals for homeless families and started collecting supplies and cloth- ing to be donated to those in need. "Goodwill and The Salvation Army and secondhand stores were closed," she explains. "Sometimes those are the only places people can afford to get 146 C A R M E L M A G A Z I N E • W I N T E R 2 0 2 1