Food Pantry Needs Your Help
Bottom line: Interfaith Social Services needs donations and it also needs volunteers. There are more details below, but immediate links below.
Please volunteer.
Please donate.
On Volunteering…
Interfaith Social Services is following guidance from the CDC and local health officials and have implemented protective measures to limit person to person contact. We strive to continue providing exceptional service as well as food and emergency assistance to our neighbors in need. We anticipate that even more households will be in need of food over these next few weeks. We will need the community’s help to enable us to continue meeting the growing need.
Below are some of the extra precautions we are taking to mitigate the spread of this virus. We are confident that with these protective measures in place will allow us to continue serving our clients as we closely monitor this evolving crisis.
- Staff are meeting daily to monitor new developments and change procedures accordingly.
- We have asked volunteers and staff who have recently traveled outside of the US within the last month or are not feeling well to suspend their service at this time.
- All staff and volunteers are sanitizing hands and all surfaces regularly.
- Food pantry clients will wait in their cars instead of waiting in the food pantry waiting room. Volunteers will go out to their cars to check clients in. Those on foot may wait in the waiting room, keeping a safe distance apart, as long as there is room.
Volunteer requirements:
- All volunteers will be required to fill out a volunteer registration form upon arrival.
- Volunteers should be able to be on their feet for the duration of a 3-hour shift, be able to lift up to 50 lbs and have excellent customer service and communication skills.
- Our minimum age requirement is 16 years old.
On donations…
A Message from Rick Doane, Executive Director of Interfaith Social Services:
The COVID-19 pandemic is impacting all of our lives. We have quickly seen the detrimental impact at our food pantry here at Interfaith Social Services. We need your help, please donate.
Generally, 50% of the food we give to our clients comes from rescue efforts at local grocery stores. As you know, the supermarkets have seen an unprecedented number of shoppers. As such, our food rescue drivers have been coming back with a few boxes of groceries instead of truck loads. We have already had to start purchasing more food to keep our shelves stocked.
We’ve also made the difficult decision to temporarily close our Bureau Drawer Thrift Shop, to ensure the safety of our volunteers and shoppers. The Shop is an important fundraiser for Interfaith, typically bringing in $10,000 a month to sustain our food pantry and other programs.
We are expecting to serve a record-setting number of households in the coming weeks. With schools closed until April 7, many parents will not be able to work and will lose income that they depend on. It is our responsibility to make sure that the vulnerable clients we serve continue to get basic necessities to sustain themselves and their families.
For those looking to help, right now our biggest need is monetary donations. Please donate today.
Fortunately, we do have very strong spending power – with just $1 we can purchase the equivalent of 5 meals.
Interfaith Social Services has been following guidance from the CDC and local health officials and have implemented protective measures to limit person to person contact. With these new procedures in place, our food pantry will remain operational so that we can continue to provide emergency food assistance to our neighbors in need.
We have already started to see the community starting to rally and help Interfaith’s clients. Let’s keep that momentum going! Amidst all of this fear and anxiety let’s do something great together. We can be a positive force during this difficult time.
Thank you so much for your support. We will keep you posted as other needs arise. Watch our social media channels for more immediate updates and needs. |
