Seniors received a two for one on Wednesday.

Brandy Clark and her staff at the Manteca Senior Center offered, for the first, a drive-thru farmers market for those age 60 and older.

“We’ve had it where seniors would learn how to cook using certain produce – they’d pick up (from the farmers market) items as needed to take home and cook that dish,” said Clark, who is the City of Manteca’s Recreation Supervisor.

But that was before global COVID-19 pandemic.

The drive-thru farmers market, coincidentally, according to Clark, was held in conjunction with the free bread giveaway that morning by Operation Compassion – as spearheaded by 10th Congressional District Republican candidate Ted Howze with help from Mayor Ben Cantu of Manteca and Tracy Mayor Robert Rickman.

Clark and her staff took safety precautions by wearing coronavirus masks and sanitary gloves to put together and distribute the bagged free groceries – included were farm-fresh broccoli, pears, and oranges – using drive-thru service in front of the facility located at 295 Cherry Lane.

“We’ve seen an increase in foot traffic for our free lunches and food deliveries, in general,” she said of this growing need for seniors given the food shortage during the coronavirus pandemic.

The drive-thru farmers market the Manteca Senior Center is scheduled for the first Wednesday at each month.

For more information, log on to www.ci.manteca.ca.us.