Kitsap food banks shift to meet growing demands of COVID-19 pandemic

A steady stream of cars lined up at St. Vincent de Paul’s food bank in Bremerton much of Monday afternoon, following a new method designed to ensure people in need still have groceries amid a pandemic that’s spread to Kitsap County and is likely to bring on tough times ahead.

While state officials take more measures to try to curb COVID-19’s rapid spread, food banks are also shifting how they operate to limit person-to-person contact, reduce the spread of germs and protect people most vulnerable to the illness. And staff are expecting to see a rush of clients as schools, restaurants and many businesses shutter for the foreseeable future.

This week, St. Vincent staff started running a drive-thru food bank, allowing clients to pull up in their vehicle and receive a food basket instead of coming inside and picking out items themselves. The charity shut down its thrift store last week to reduce in-person contact and moved staff over to help the food bank.

“We still want to feed everyone during this whole thing,” said Polly Gerrish, St. Vincent’s assistance office manager. “We’re going to continue to do everything we possibly can to help.”

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/kitsap-food-banks-shift-to-meet-growing-demands-of-covid-19-pandemic/ar-BB11kmKJ?ocid=hplocalnews