Small act of kindness returned in big way

Area’s food pantries, including in Middlesex, among those to benefit

by Jackie Nunnery –

For Jean-Carlo Gachet, it is normally an eight- to 10-hour trip from Chesterfield, where he is a driver for Abilene Motor Express, to Savannah, Ga., and one that he has made many times.

However, his trip Jan. 3 in the midst of a snowstorm will be one he is unlikely to ever forget.

Like hundreds of others, Gachet was caught in the 40-mile, 24-hour traffic jam on Interstate 95. But unlike many of the other drivers, Gachet was better equipped to spend the night in his vehicle, complete with a microwave and extra food. Jimmy Dean Breakfast Bowls to be exact. Gachet offered a warm meal to those in the car next to him, posting a video of the interaction to his Twitter account and it went viral. In addition to his story traveling across multiple social media platforms, “within 15 minutes it was on the local news and within two hours CNN picked up the story,” Gachet said.

Most importantly, Tyson Foods heard about it and decided to follow Gachet’s act of kindness by donating 29,000 pounds of Jimmy Dean products, ranging from pork sausage to bacon, to the Healthy Harvest Food Bank (HHFB) in Warsaw. The food will be distributed to 28 food pantries in the Northern Neck as well as Essex and Middlesex counties that the food bank serves. The donation will provide 115,000 meals to community members in need.