Cereal from the heart
Photo by JOSH McDONALD Lori Sawyer hands bags of cereal from her car to folks outside Shoshone Glass in Kellogg. Sawyer wanted to find a way to help her community during this trying time and got the idea while watching the news.
KELLOGG — Beneath the rough and tumble exterior of Shoshone County, there is truly a generous heart and throughout this stressful time it has shown itself more and more regularly.
From food banks to respirator masks, the people of the county have taken to helping their own and Lori and Kerry Sawyer are no different.
As local business owners, they have been a part of the fabric of the community for many years and wanted to do something for the students who are missing out on potential meals due to the schools being closed.
Lori knew the schools were providing meals for their displaced students, but she and her husband also wanted to help in any way they could.
“We wanted to help someway and I saw (on the news) that a gentleman back east gave away cereal,” Lori said. “We talked and thought it would be a good way to help.”
Over the last few days, the Sawyers have handed out more than 50 bags of cereal to any family that showed up down at Shoshone Glass.
With the vast majority of folks suddenly out of work, the Sawyers wanted to make sure that everyone felt welcome to come and grab some cereal.
This sense of community is something that the Sawyers have embraced for their entire lives and was instilled in them by their parents and now they want to share it with their community.
“We knew a lot of people were out of jobs and struggling. We were hoping to help a little,” Lori said. “We have to pull together as a community and if we can help in any way — well you just do. I guess my parents taught me that you need to have compassion for your neighbors. We all need some kind of help in our lives at one time or another — we are just grateful that we are able to help a little.”
Wednesday in particular was a day that Lori will never forget as she handed out the bulk of her cereal to families.
Just interacting with the families she was helping was a blessing for her and made all of her efforts instantly worth it.
“I had a lady who showed up and had four children. Her husband thanked me over and over, and then later in the day I got another message for her thanking me and telling me that I had no idea how much I helped them,” Lori said. “It was heartwarming to know that they were so grateful. Right now people are worrying about so much, maybe we can alleviate a little worry by feeding their little ones.”
Lori Sawyer will be handing out more cereal on Wednesday, April 8, at Shoshone Glass in Kellogg from 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.