As the COVID-19 health crisis continues, the Gilmer Community Food Pantry’s staff wants to make sure local residents know the nonprofit food provider is still open and able to help those in need.
“The Gilmer Community Food Pantry is open to serve the food needs of our clients every Wednesday from 9 a.m-12:45 p.m.,” confirmed Allen Triebel, the facility’s director.
Since the health crisis began, the pantry has not served quite as many people as first thought, Triebel noted.
“Our expectations were that we’d be close to running out of food by now, but I feel like people are thinking we’re either closed or not safe,” he added.
The pantry is complying with all CDC guidelines, Triebel noted.
“All our volunteers are wearing masks and gloves. We bleach the plastic numbers we give clients. We bleach the tables and doorknobs and the shopping carts we use. We bleach down work surfaces constantly and maintain safe social distances. We have a table between us and the clients and there are blue lines and Xs on the floor where they can stand. We are safe or safer than going to a crowded grocery store,” he said.
A shortened application process has greatly reduced wait times for food pantry clients and the building’s waiting area seating has been sectioned off and is not being used for seating purposes.
“We now have a one-stop identity confirmation and interview process. We’re down to about one-third of our (normal) staff, so we don’t have a lot of people standing around. Now, we can process about three times (what we could before) with that one-third staff because we’ve expedited everything,” Triebel said. “On average, the time from interviewing to receiving groceries is 10-15 minutes. Clients only need to bring a photo ID and proof of their residency in Gilmer County with them.”
In keeping with social distancing, no more than five clients enter the building at one time.
“We’ve got it down to eight people (total) with five clients and three interviewers. The building used to have, maybe, 60 people inside on a busy day,” Triebel said. “We have five clients wait outside while five come inside. Once the five people inside have been interviewed, they can go get in their cars. By the time they get in line, we have their groceries ready. While the next five people are being interviewed inside, the next five can sit in chairs outside the building six feet apart. If it rains, we can open the other warehouse. They can sit there and not have to run from one building to another in the rain.”
The food pantry is still receiving a smaller-than-normal supply of food from its main supplier, the Chattanooga Food Bank, but donations from the public are helping to bridge that shortfall.
Food donations are still being accepted and the pantry is asking for shelf-stable canned and boxed items.
“We have the things I can buy but that’s about three-tenths of what I could buy before,” Triebel said.
Tuesday is now the only day other than Wednesday when pantry staffers are on hand to accept food donations, but there are two large boxes near the building’s front entrance where donations can be left. The boxes are being checked regularly by food pantry staff, Triebel said.
With help from the Gilmer Sheriff’s Office and Gilmer Fire and Rescue employees, food pantry volunteers were able to distribute almost 1,300 bags of food for a special Sack Pack program conducted during the recent five-day school spring break.
Sack Pack, which is normally done in cooperation with the school system, provides shelf-stable food for kids to take home over the weekend. In a typical school year, more than 300 local children and teens would receive the weekend food from their schools each Friday.
The food pantry hopes to do Sack Pack again sometime soon since school will be out for the foreseeable future.
“We have volunteers who are willing to pack,” Triebel said.
The Gilmer Community Food Pantry is located at 5273 Highway 52 East. It can be reached by phone at 706-273-3663. Messages are being checked. Food is distributed Wednesdays from 9 a.m.-12:45 p.m.