By FRED KRONER
Heather McArty, the Director and Board President of the Oakwood Area Food Pantry, Inc., sees an irony as her organization distributes needed food on a weekly basis.
“I have been fielding an elevated amount of phone calls and emails from community leaders as well as individuals inquiring about our availability and what qualifications are required to partake in our program,” McArty said.
And yet when the Tuesday distributions take place (between 10 a.m. and noon) that interest is not reflected by the turnout.
“Typically, we serve 40-50 families per week,” McArty said. “Despite the uptick of inquiries, we have noticed a decline in guests and we can only assume that is a result of people adhering to the social distancing recommendation.”
The Oakwood Area Food Pantry is replenished and ready to serve.
“Our stock consists of pasta, canned meats, vegetables, fruits and soups,” McArty said. “Produce, bread and frozen meat are given out when they are available.
“We recently had a very generous and unexpected donation of cheese from Ludwig Farmstead Creamery.”
The organization is staffed entirely by volunteers.
“We have 12-15 people that give their time consistently to fulfill the roles necessary to operate smoothly as a non-profit,” McArty said. “Our board members and individuals that do inventory, registration, delivery and disbursements are all a vital part of our team.”
The Oakwood organization serves a large area and has generally been successful in meeting the needs.
“Due to the fact that our little pantry serves nearly a third of Vermilion County villages, we have only had to redirect a few people that reside outside our coverage area to their local pantries,” McArty said. “We serve residents of Oakwood, Muncie, Fithian, Fairmount, Catlin, Indianola and Sidell that meet our income guidelines.”
Distribution days are designed with the safety and welfare of the patrons in mind.
“Our pantry has taken COVID-19 precautions and changed the way that we get food to families,” McArty said. “Instead of allowing them to come into the building and make choices based on our food availability, we are now selecting the items and delivering the bag of supplements to them in their car to reduce human contact as much as possible.
“The majority of our patrons are older and are more vulnerable to illness and we want to do as much as possible to keep them well fed and healthy.”
Like many other organizations and businesses, their needs are for the basics.
“Our current needs at the moment are gloves and masks for the volunteers to wear as well as monetary donations for the anticipated increase of guests we are expecting due to hardships and job losses related to COVID-19,” McArty said.
If she could be granted two wishes, McArty wouldn’t have any difficulty selecting what would headline the requests.
“My first wish would be to find a contractor or company that would oversee and assist in our room addition,” McArty said. “We are operating out of a 900-square-foot building and it would be incredible to gain a little extra space that would accommodate our traffic flow.
“Our community has been vocal about physically helping us build on, but we need some direction from an expert. Secondly, I’d love to see stronger partnerships with some of the schools and churches in the areas that we service so we could take a broader approach to meeting our community’s needs.”
Meanwhile, in Mahomet, the Helping Hands is serving a larger number of people.
At the February distribution, 46 families were served. In March, that total was 55 families.
“We gave out almost everything we had,” 20-year volunteer Beth Jackson said. “Some basics were left, and we have a few more canned vegetables.”
The distribution date is the third Saturday of the month.
The hours are from 9-11:30 a.m., but changes were made to the pickup policy.
“They have a time to come,” volunteer Ann Paul said, “but we don’t let anybody come in.”
There’s a minimum of 12 to 15 volunteers working on Distribution Day and the process is set up to run smoothly.
“The families are asked to stay in their vehicles,” volunteer Bob Quinlan said. “Volunteers bring the food to their vehicles and put it in.”
With the help of advance work, food was pre-packaged into small, medium or large bags.
“It was quite a bit of work ahead of time,” Jackson said, “but it paid off.
“We had wonderful volunteers from Grace (church). There were six of us working, an extra eight to 10 hours each.”
Helping Hands, which gets much of its food from the Food Pantry, is considering extra help for the community.
“We’re thinking about another give-away,” Paul said.
Currently, the organization does a minimal second give-away, the Thursday after the Saturday give-away for folks who were unable five days earlier.
“We had six or seven (at the Thursday give-away in March), Quinlan said.
Whether additional give-aways will be possible has to be determined.
“I’m sure there is a lot of demand on the Food Bank,” Quinlan said. “Everybody will want more.”
While Quinlan said, “the shelves are pretty empty, compared to normal,” the Helping Hands volunteers expect that situation to be remedied soon.
“We appreciate the community support, their time and their money,” Jackson said. “That is the way we will stay going.”
Quinlan said that donations, even small ones, go a long way.
“For every dollar donated, we can buy between $5 and $9 (of products),” he said.
At the food pantry at the St. Joseph Church of Christ, administrators anticipate an increased need.
“We have only had two or three new patrons seek to use our food pantry,” said Talen Hawkins, the SJCOC secretary. “However, with the prolonged social distancing requirement, we anticipate there will be more interest in the next month.”
The food pantry at the church is open – by appointment only – on Mondays from 1-3 p.m. and on Wednesdays from 9-11 a.m.
The greatest needs, according to Hawkins, are pre-made bagged meals that people can make in the microwave or on the stove as well as pasta, toilet paper and paper towels.
Thus far, the SJCOC has been able to meet the demand, but with limited staffing.
“We have not had to turn anyone away,” Hawkins said. “We always have a lot of canned vegetables and beans.
“We also carry many non-perishables such as cereal, pastas, and microwave bag meals.”
In a typical month, the SJCOC serves around 50 people.
Generally, about four volunteers help, along with the church secretary.
“Currently only one (worker) due to the COVID19 keeping people inside,” Hawkins said.
She said they would not mind extra assistance.
“We want to cut down on germ traffic in the church, but would also still appreciate those willing to help,” Hawkins said. “Donations would also be greatly appreciated and can be dropped off in our church foyer at any time.”
Those interested in offering assistance can contact the St. Joseph Church of Christ at 217-469-2207.
