Harry Chapin Food Bank and the Coronavirus – Tuesday, April 7, 2020
In this ever fluid environment, the challenges your food bank faces vary from day to day. There are three principles that remain steadfast during this crisis. We are committed to fulfill our mission and serve our community. We are committed to keeping the hungry, our staff and volunteers safe. We are committed to the avoidance of spreading the virus.
To date, most of our challenges have centered around fulfilling our mission and finding ways to avoid the spreading of the virus. We’ve adjusted our operations, modified our distributions and done everything in our power to ensure that no one has to go hungry.
For the foreseeable future, one of our most pressing challenges will be securing masks so that we can keep the hungry, our staff and volunteers safe.
Several weeks ago, we placed orders for masks. Like many of you, we will not receive our order for several weeks. We simply cannot wait to have masks and yet, we need masks for the safety of the hungry, our staff and volunteers.
We humbly join the chorus of other essential employers desperate for masks. We will gladly accept homemade masks. If you are able or willing to make masks for our staff and volunteers please email Meg Madzar at mmadzar@harrychapinfoodbank.org.
We still need volunteers to help us sort produce, build food kits and distribute food at our drive-thru distributions. The safety of our volunteers is extremely important to us. We have adjusted our volunteer schedule to stagger and limit the number of volunteers in our facilities. Our volunteers are wearing gloves which we happily provide for them. No one who has been out the country or is not feeling well is being allowed to volunteer. We have added one more requirement of those willing to give of their time; to bring your own mask. If you are well, have a mask, are able and willing to volunteer, please click here to sign up.
To support our feeding efforts, please click here.
If you are looking for food, please click here.