From drive-thru distributions to increasing the amount of food given out, area food pantries are changing the way families are being fed during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
At Grace & Mercy Ministries in a steady rain Thursday afternoon, a stream of cars pulled up to a side door as volunteers loaded up boxes of food into trunks and backseats.
Less than an hour after the doors opened, more than 30 people had showed up, close to the total number of families who came on the first day of the new format earlier this week. The drive-thru service will continue until at least April 10.
“I think we’re going to see an uptick of people coming,” said volunteer Dick Young, standing in a storage room lined with freezers.
Food pantries expect to stay busy for the time being as grocery stores race to keep shelves stocked and restaurants scale back operations for at least the next couple of weeks. Lafayette-based Food Finders Food Bank ran out of food at its previously-scheduled mobile pantry Tuesday at First United Methodist Church.
“These people waited 2-1/2 hours to be turned away,” said Ellen Simpson, who helped run the mobile drive.
Many of the clients who couldn’t stop at the church were expected to show up later Thursday afternoon to the FISH pantry at St. Bernard Catholic Church, which has also shifted to a drive-thru system.
Food Finders, which supports local pantries, has waived income eligibility guidelines during the pandemic, only asking workers to record names and household sizes.
“Marty says they’re lining up out there,” said FISH coordinator Carol Spencer more than an hour before the pantry opened, after St. Bernard’s maintenance director checked in with volunteers.
The outbreak comes as more than 37 million Americans, including 11 million children, are living with food insecurity, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In 2017, 4,120 Montgomery County residents were food insecure, more than 1,350 of them children.
Local pantries say they are well stocked heading into the anticipated rush. A Wabash College fraternity donated its leftover food to FISH after the campus closed for the rest of the semester. Pace Dairy gave nearly 2,000 pounds of cheese to Grace & Mercy.
Feeding America, a nationwide hunger relief organization that supports area pantries, established a $2.65 billion fund in response to the pandemic. Emergency food boxes were being packed and distributed to more than 60,000 charities across the U.S.
In addition to the pantries, Food Finders’ drive-thru mobile unit plans to run as scheduled until further notice. The traveling pantry returns to the area next month with stops at Area Sharing Kindness Food Pantry in Attica April 13 and New Market Christian Church April 21.
Food Finders said it would add a second drive-thru pantry in Lafayette beginning Tuesday and double the amount of food allotted to each household. Clients will be asked to visit only once per week.
Back in Montgomery County, FISH’s phone line has rung constantly with people asking about the food bank. FISH’s other ministries are suspending regular hours. The clothing closet, based at Wabash Avenue Presbyterian Church, is closed until April 15. The linen closet, housed at First Baptist Church, has asked clients needing blankets to call the church.
“A lot of them have said, ‘We haven’t had to use this before, but we can’t buy food for our kids,’” Simpson said.
