Like Robin of Locksley (aka Robin Hood) who gave back to his community (albeit what some might consider in slightly unscrupulous ways), Western Illinois University Peace Corps Fellow and Recreation, Parks and Tourism Administration Graduate Student Sir Jason "Rok" Locksley (he has been knighted by the Order of Brașov) has made it his mission to give back to his "adopted" home community of Macomb during his time at WIU, but in a far more lawful manner than Sir Robin of Locksley.
The Peace Corps Fellows Program, within the Illinois Institute for Rural Affairs (IIRA) at Western Illinois University, learned this week it is one of 13 programs statewide receiving federal grant funding from AmeriCorps, the federal agency for national service and community volunteerism.
Listen to the interview with John Curtis
“At the beginning of the pandemic we were averaging about 150 households throughout McDonough County that we were delivering to once a week. And now we’re up around 220 households,” Curtis said.
He said the delivery service is especially beneficial for people who are required to shelter-in-place. He said it also benefits people who are “…living at rates of poverty that are hard to imagine in a first world country.”
Curtis said every house receives milk, sliced bread, and frozen meat. Eggs are also included most weeks. He said the amount delivered to each home depends on how many people live there. He said Genesis Garden has been getting much of the food from the River Bend Foodbank in Davenport and Midwest Food Bank in Peoria.