The Coronavirus Pandemic and the accompanying shut-down has had a devastating effect on the lives of individuals and families, students and teachers, employees and business-owners. No one has been untouched by this historic, global event. Remarkably, the food pantry is weathering the storm, thanks to many, many people. We have been the recipient of food donations, mask donations, and monetary donations. We have also been on receiving end of many fervent prayers. Prayers for strength, for fortitude, for safety.

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     The majority of volunteers that have kept the pantry running for so many years is made up of retirees. Because retirees are part of the vulnerable population (one of a handful of new phrases that have become part of our every day language, like social distancing, distance learning, and zoom meeting), many have understandably had to step back during this time. Fortunately, several people-students whose in-person classes and other activities have been cancelled, adults working from home, and friends and relatives of long-time volunteers-have stepped in to help fill out the volunteer roster. And the volunteer roster continues to grow.  Just 3 short months ago, the pantry staffed 7-9 volunteers at a time during operating hours; today, each shift sees 25-28 volunteers. The operation used to be held exclusively indoors, where our fearless leaders (never more so than these past few months!) Bernie and Joyce had all volunteers within eye shot or ear shot; now 18 of our volunteers are outside, spread out across the church grounds, while 8 or 9 work inside. And the numbers of clients we are seeing has increased tremendously. The average number of clients served per weekend has jumped from 170 or so to over 400, and the average number of first-time clients per weekend has drastically increased from 20 or so to 140.

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     Many volunteers keep the ever-growing operation running...out on the front lines-registering clients and handing out food, down in the basement-filling bins and bags, and all that goes on behind the scenes-you know who you are: fielding phone calls and emails, managing relationships with partner organization, attending Zoom meetings, managing food inventory and placing bulk food orders, keeping the pantry stocked with all of the necessary forms, new client ID cards, and office supplies, querying the database for stats and charts, and the list goes on. We are an all-volunteer operation, and we are thankful for each and every one of them, but there is a core group of individuals that continues showing up to serve in the pantry week after week, many twice or even three times a week, month after month, for more shifts than can be counted. They should be recognized for their tireless, selfless efforts.