Food Pantries Amidst the Pandemic
Life looks much different now than it did just two weeks ago. The streets of New York are empty, transportation meccas are eerily barren, and employees are either working from home or getting laid off. In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic New Yorkers may be ordering in, but some can’t afford the luxury. For those who rely on and those who provide emergency food assistance, this is an especially challenging time.
The Larchmont Mamaroneck Hunger Task Force operates out of the Community Resource Center’s basement and typically relies on several volunteers to turn the space into a bustling food market twice a month. Working in close quarters during the coronavirus outbreak would violate the now common practice of social distancing, forcing the food pantry to find alternative solutions for feeding the community.
At first, the food pantry was going to move their usual set up of prepared food bags outside to a nearby parking lot, according to Catherine Carney, Vice President of the Larchmont Mamaroneck Hunger Task Force. They were going to bring over one client at a time to ensure social distancing, but local law enforcement and police officers voiced their concerns.
“At best, it would have been 400 people, but word travels and I think we would have possibly had lots more people, even non-clients of ours. People who have heard about us who need food who would come.” Carney said.
Roughly 360 families rely on LM Hunger Task Force, which is estimated to be about 1400 individuals. Even though the food pantry’s doors are closed, the committee has continued discussing how to be accessible to the community during this time of crisis. The food pantry had sent out roughly 1,300 grocery store gift cards to their clients.
“We were glad to do it, we felt that it would make a difference, but we also had misgivings about it because it resulted in these people buying food at retail as opposed to our greater buying power when we purchase things at wholesale,” Carney said. “So we’re not getting as much bang for the buck.”
Giving out gift cards felt like a short term solution so Carney got on the phone and called three other pantries throughout Westchester to see how they were handling feeding their communities in this awkward time. She even called the food pantry in New Rochelle, which is the first place in New York to have a confirmed case of the novel coronavirus.
“Everyone was doing different things, because obviously no one could do the same routine we’ve always done where people come inside and picking bags,” Carney said. She noted social distancing is frustrating when people need to line up to receive goods and each facility has handled it the best way they could.
Last week, LM Hunger Task Force partnered with schools, social workers, and places of worship to ensure the most vulnerable community members are being reached. One church, Saint John’s Episcopal in Larchmont has been packing lunch bags for students who rely on school for certain meals. The pantry’s new plan consists of packing and delivering a limited number of bags from the church to residents who are homebound.
“They are the elderly, the disabled, people who are sick who normally can’t come to our distributions anyway.” That will reduce demand on the number of volunteers that would be needed, because having too much help is an issue when practicing social distancing.
The task force is lucky enough to be in a financial position to continue serving through these tough times, but Carney says the best thing people can do to keep the task force running is donate money.
“We’re fortunate to live in a very generous community and people are reaching out to us which is a big help,” Carney said.
The LM Hunger Task force is concerned about what will happen after coronavirus since more than 360,000 New York State residents applied for unemployment this week, according to the Department of Labor. And that number is expected to continue growing.
“Our food pantry will be different after this,” Carney said. “Our food pantry numbers will probably sky rocket so we are trying to get prepared for a greater number of people.”
The pantry isn’t just preparing for an influx of clients, but the amount of volunteers they might need to help meet the newfound demand.
As sad and scary as the coronavirus might be, the newly formed coalition has allowed community groups to come together and share ideas. In discussions with other networks, the task force realized they don’t have a way to directly connect with clients, and will be working towards starting a direct text system.
The food pantry has been around for 27 years and Carney has been with the food pantry for about 12 years. A couple of months before she started a terrible flood hit Mamaroneck which ruined the space the food pantry was operating from. Shortly after the 2008 financial crisis hit.
Carney says the pantry has learned from every misgiving that has come their way, but once routines have been re-established challenges force it to adapt and change the way things are done. The pantry is still dealing with the immediate crisis and will work toward solidifying future plans.
“We just know that our numbers will probably double, they could triple,” Carney said. “We are well aware of the pain and the hardships that a lot of people are going through.”
Carney said LM Hunger Task force will be there for the people of Larchmont and Mamaroneck and knows their parent organization, Feeding Westchester, is on the same page.
“We’ll adjust, we’re right here. We’ll be there for our community.”
