“I am not a person who can sit around and do nothing,” she said.
McSpadden first organized donations after Hurricane Harvey, when she helped with clothing and supplies for those who had been affected by flooding around the Pearland area. For the virus, she not only had to think about what donations she should collect, but also how to do it safely. As a mother of five children, McSpadden said she is taking social distancing very seriously. She decided on donating pizzas to first responders and essential workers because she could pay and tip over the phone and count on contactless delivery.
“The people I call are just floored,” she said.
McSpadden has raised enough money so far to donate 636 pizzas to hospitals, grocery stores, fire and police departments, garbage collection sites and post offices. While most donations go to Pearland-area stores, as most donors are Pearland residents, McSpadden has sent donations around the Houston area, even as far as Kingwood. Grocery stores are especially appreciative, she said.
“To me, the grocery store, the post office, all of those kinds of people are also essential,” McSpadden said.
McSpadden began calling for donations over social media, just as she did after Harvey. Since her first call-out for donations on April 3, she has raised more than $5,000 for pizzas.
“It was slow moving at first. Then it just took off,” McSpadden said.
Responses on collecting donations has been good, she said. The hardest part is getting ahold of the right person to notify about the donations. However, as she is unable to go to her job as a paraprofessional at Alvin ISD right now, she said she does not mind how long the process takes.
“I certainly have the time now,” she said.
When she alerts someone that a donation is coming, most people assume she is a restaurant worker, she said. People are surprised and grateful to find out that she is a private citizen who collected donations from others around Houston, McSpadden said.
“I think that adds a personal effect to them because it’s like, ‘Wow, people are putting their hard-earned money that they may not have in a month or two towards this donation,’” she said.
