Founder and president/CEO of Making A Difference Foundation Ahndrea Blue (right) stopped for a photo op with youth volunteers Jeanette and Jeanella Rardin and the visiting bunnies.

Every Wednesday morning starting at 10 a.m., Lot G at the Tacoma Dome is transformed into an Eloise’s Cooking Pot drive-through food bank and its popularity has flourished since its start during the COVID pandemic. Cars begin arriving hours beforehand to secure a place in line and, thanks to the hard work and efficiency of Eloise volunteers, a steady flow ensures that everyone is served as quickly as possible. All that the drivers have to do is pop their trunk, wait while it is filled, then they can move on with their day.

Always with a mind to help and uplift people from all walks of life, special add-ons are brought in for the day and on April 9, it was Easter bunnies and free on-site tax preparation.

The Tacoma Weekly caught up with bunnies Fluffy and Hoppy while they were enjoying a brief rest period during their day of spreading fun and love to children waiting in cars for their turn to be loaded up with healthy, nutritious foods.

“We’re just taking a carrot break,” said Hoppy (a.k.a. Goerge Rigdon). She has been an Eloise volunteer for nearly 14 years and she is also the Eloise Elf at Christmastime with fellow volunteer James Osier as Santa.

Fluffy (a.k.a. Heather Vargas) was making her debut appearance this year.

“I bought this costume last year for the kids and I’ve known Goerge for a while. She said, ‘I’m the Easter Bunny’ and I had a costume too, so I said let’s go!” Vargas said.

The two furry sidekicks went car to car seeing if any little ones were there to visit. They came bearing Easter treats as well, festive bags with toys and candy and an age specific book – “What Color is God’s Love?” written by Xochitl Dixon and illustrated by Darshika Varma, and “Wonderfully, Marvelously Brown” written by Xochitl Dixon and illustrated by Sara Palacios.

“It’s spring break so we’ve seen a lot of kids,” said Ahndrea Blue, founder and president/CEO of Making A Difference Foundation (MADF) which owns Eloise’s Cooking Pot Food Bank.

Little ones waiting in line enjoyed cupcakes that Ahndrea Blue gave them as a special treat.

Also there lending a hand were sisters and high school students Jeanette and Jeanella Rardin from MADF’s Feeding our Future program. Dedicated to teaching young people all about indoor hydroponic farming of microgreens while building their knowledge, skills and confidence to run their own business, both sisters said they are gaining important knowledge to own their own businesses.

“I love it,” Jeanella said of the program. “I for sure want to get my own business. I’m a hair stylist but I like the microgreens part as well.”

Jeanette said she loves it too. “With the business classes that they offer, it helps me put into a picture how I’m going to start in business.”

Meanwhile, there was something for the grown-ups with free tax preparation being provided on site by volunteers from the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program (VITA) in partnership with the Department of Internal Revenue. Anyone who needed their taxes done could just walk up, have a seat, and work with a VITA volunteer to have their tax returns completed and filed while they wait.

“I was researching online for free tax help and ended up finding them,” said Timothy Mansen. “It’s a great service. After about 20 minutes, we were done. It’s nice and easy.”

Trained tax preparer Ahmbur was there leading this opportunity. “We have a 100 percent score, with no rejections or anything,” she said.

Bruce Jepson drove in from Lake Tapps to be among the VITA volunteer tax preparers. He said that he and another volunteer who both worked at H&R Block last year were looking for a place to offer their tax help and came upon MADF.

“It was on the VITA list, and we decided we wanted to work for the Foundation. It’s been great and great people to work with,” he said. “We’re just a small part of it. After we started working for (Blue), we learned about what they do here, and they do a lot of amazing work and touch a lot of lives.”

Learn more at themadf.org/taxes.