LEESVILLE, La. (AP) - A Vernon Parish deputy is living up to her oath to serve her parish, as she and her family cook and serve hot meals daily to more than 90 elderly citizens in surrounding communities who cannot risk leaving their homes in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Deputy Sissy Wanjura begins her day just as any other before the coronavirus struck the world. She gets up no later than 6 a.m. and prepares for the hard work ahead, but her uniform consists of sanitary kitchen gloves and coverings, and she’ll slave over a hot stove instead of a desk of paperwork.
“It’s hard work each day, but we all get up every morning happy to do it because we know how important what we are doing is,” Wanjura said.
Wanjura, with her extended family members and their children ages 4 to 18, gather together in the kitchen and begin the work of cooking a full hot lunch meal for nearly 100 people every day, except Sundays. The meals vary each day, but typically consist of a main protein such as a roast, along with rice and gravy, peas, cornbread and a dessert. The meals are then hand-delivered every day by the family door-to-door to elderly residents who live in rural parish areas like Evans, Burr Ferry, Anacoco and Hornbeck who are considered shut-ins.
“It is a full family affair. From the youngest to the oldest, all the kids are hands-on with the work and every morning I’m blown away to see each of our kids line up, wash their hands and then get to work at plating. They never complain; they are always smiling and happy to be helping. It fills my heart with joy every day to see it,” Wanjura said.
Wanjura began her labor of love shortly after Gov. John-Bel Edwards issued the statewide stay-at-home order in March, when her sister-in-law approached her with her concerns for the elderly population who weren’t able to go out and pick up food for themselves.
“We never really hesitated after that,” Wanjura said. “The family came together and I started trying to figure our how we could make this operation work.”
Wanjura reached out to Lamm’s food service, the parish jail food distributor, and arranged for an additional truckload of supplies each week for her project. Without hesitation, the family paid out of their own pockets the $600 for each truckload of food. Each truckload lasts them about one week, she estimated.
Sheriff Sam Craft said he was “very proud” of Wanjura’s plans when she came to him for approval, but said he was not surprised at all by her selflessness.
“That’s just who she is; it is a testament to her character and to her family,” Craft said. “Deputy Wanjura is a valuable employee and asset to this department. What she is doing is a commendable act that greatly benefits this parish.”
Wanjura’s project grew quickly from an initial delivery of 20 meals a day to the nearly 100 meals today. As the public learned of her family’s mission, so grew their support and now the meal supplies are completely covered by donations from the community.
“We hear often that we are a blessing to these folks that we are serving, but really we are the ones who are being blessed. Throughout this project we have been so grateful to be able to serve our community and spend our time together in doing so,” Wanjura said.
As the state prepares to begin a slow reopening, Wanjura said her family will continue to serve their elderly community members as long as it’s needed and possible. Even after the state hopefully one day returns to normalcy, she said some residents will continue to be looked after by her family.
“This project has allowed us to get to know the people we serve and we have bonded with many of them. We have become more than a meal provider to some of these folks; we have built long-lasting relationships with them that will continue beyond this pandemic,” she said.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.