As COVID-19 and concerns about the virus spread through the community, Community FoodBank has lost volunteers, several of whom are retired seniors at high risk of illness. To adjust, the local food pantry has changed how it distributes food to serve a number of applicants seeking help.
The food bank distributes from its facility at 1133 San Felipe Road on Fridays and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to noon. Normally, clients line up, sign in, then pick up their food in a supermarket-like shopping experience. But with the outbreak, service is being handled in a new way.
“The biggest thing that has changed is the marketplace,” said Scott Kindred, director of communications. To prevent the spread of the coronavirus, the food bank is operating a drive-thru service. Cars line up and circle the building as they check-in and pick up food, which is pre-bagged on Wednesdays and Thursdays.
Kindred told BenitoLink that Community FoodBank is seeking volunteers on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays to fill those bags. He asked that volunteers not just show up, as the organization needs to schedule them in advance.
Salina Chacon, volunteer with a group from the YMCA of San Benito County, said she was there “to do my part to give back to the community in its time of need.”
With no end date certain for the statewide shelter-in-place order, the food bank expects to distribute food with its drive-thru system for about three months.
Outreach coordinator Juana Valdez said the number of people seeking assistance has skyrocketed in the last week and a half.
“Usually every two weeks we have seven or eight new applications,” Valdez said. “In the last week and a half, we have had 74.”
The food bank is working to have the National Guard help distribute food, but no start date has been established. The National Guard is currently assisting with food bank efforts in Santa Cruz County.
To reduce the risk of COVID-19 spread and infection, Kindred said Community FoodBank is no longer accepting food donations from the public at large; the organization is still receiving food from places including the Monterey County Food Bank in Salinas, local grocery and retail stores, local growers, USDA allocations, and Second Harvest Food Bank of Watsonville.
For residents without access to a vehicle, Community FoodBank will be working with senior-focused nonprofit Jovenes de Antaño and the Hollister Recreation Department to get food delivered to their homes.
Anyone interested in volunteering can call (831) 637-0340.
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