Bountiful Baskets begins in Groesbeck

Bountiful Baskets are coming to Groesbeck this weekend.

The produce co-op program which provides people with fruits and vegetables at a reduced cost will have its first distribution in Groesbeck at H.O. Whitehurst Elementary School under the canopy.

Those who have paid for their baskets can drive up and volunteers will place the food in your car.

The maximum number of baskets available is 96. Those who want to receive the produce must go on the web site bountifulbaskets. org early in the week and pay a contribution of $18 to receive the food on Saturday. Each basket contains about $30 worth of produce with a variety of fruits and vegetables.

The money from the contributions is used to buy the produce at a reduced cost, which is then distributed to each site by local or area vendors.

The website opens for orders at noon on Mondays. On Tuesday morning, Sunday Crider, who has been the volunteer coordinator for the Mexia site for two years and helped get the Groesbeck site started, said Groesbeck was expected to reach the maximum by the end of the day.

She said the time for pickup on Saturday has not been determined. Pickup will be staggered alphabetically so as not to have a line of vehicles waiting. Crider said the pickup time would probably be decided on Thursday and posted on the Bountiful Baskets Facebook page.

Audrey Cole, who will be the volunteer coordinator at the Groesbeck site, said she contacted Crider about getting Bountiful Baskets in the town.

“It was definitely a need-based decision,” Cole said. “Sunday had stopped (Mexia’s site) back in January. With this COVID-19, the need definitely grew. I contacted her and she was in the process of reactivating the Mexia site.”

Crider said she deactivated the Mexia site earlier this year when the number of baskets was averaging between 10 and 20 per week. But when the COVID-19 pandemic heated up, she saw a need for the program and started it up again.

“ I was about to throw in the towel and I put everything on hold,” Crider said. “And then the virus reared its head. I reached out to our coordinator and said, I have to open my site back up. When the virus started to happen and COVID came into the scene, we saw that this might be something that we could better serve the community.”

She said that Bountiful Baskets is an alternative for people who are not comfortable going into a store due to the COVID-19 pandemic. They put in their contribution online and simply drive-through and have the produce put in their vehicle.

Crider said that when she restarted the Mexia site, the first week the total baskets jumped from an average of 10-20 to more than 80. The next week the site reached its maximum of 96 baskets an hour after the web site opened. The next week, the maximum was reached within 45 minutes. And it wasn’t just Mexia people who were taking advantage of the program.

“It became obvious that not only Mexia but Groesbeck, Teague, Limestone County were using the program,” she said. “People were literally driving from an hour away to do this. They don’t want to go to the grocery store.”

The site for Groesbeck was approved two weeks ago by the volunteers who oversee the Bountiful Baskets program, which is available in towns throughout the Southwest. They are based in Phoenix.

“(Crider) wanted to see what the response was going to be (when she re-opened Mexia),” Cole said. “When they started maxing out contributions in an hour, it was crazy. I think the need was evident. As a rule, Bountiful Baskets doesn’t have sites within 20 miles of each other.”

But there was a need for the program in Groesbeck.

“It was made obvious to them that it was needed in this area,” Cole said. “We have some great grocery stores, but we don’t have as many options as big cities do. This is safe, healthy, costeffective.”

Crider said when 96 baskets are distributed, it takes between 10 and 15 volunteers to sort the produce into the baskets. Actually, Cole said, each basket is two baskets as fruit and produce are packed separately.

Crider said any volunteers handling food will be wearing masks and gloves.

She said the popularity of the baskets might wane as restrictions are relaxed and the COVID-19 threat becomes small or non-existent. But for now, Bountiful Baskets is a convenient way for people to get food and practice social distancing.

“I don’t expect it to always be this busy,” Crider said. “I think right now it’s super convenient to be able to pick up a box of produce and take that home.”

For more information visit bountifulbaskets.org or find them on Facebook at or follow the group Bistone Bountiful.