Food Bank volunteers working hard during holidays to distribute food during pandemic

Christmas and the holiday season typically see an increase in activity at the Thurston County Food Bank, as volunteers help to distribute boxes of traditional holiday food to people in need. As with most organizations, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused some changes in how the food bank reaches the people it serves.

A large hurdle for the food bank’s volunteer force is that it’s much smaller this season, said the food bank’s Executive Director, Robert Coit. About 80 percent of the normal volunteer force is sitting out this season and sheltering in place. Many volunteers are old enough to be considered more vulnerable to virus, said Coit.

In the spring and early summer months, Coit said they received some help from National Guard members for two stretches of three weeks, before they were deployed to help out during the busy wildfire season. American Red Cross volunteers also helped for a while, as did some school-age volunteers. The help is good when it’s there, but it comes in cycles.

“It’s been a challenge without a doubt,” said Coit, who added “the best way to describe it is [that] the folks we have are tired.”

With staff being so limited, they’ve refocused everyone involved with the food bank who are still working to help with food distribution. It’s the same all-hands-on-deck system that would take place during a natural disaster, said Coit.

The food bank is actively seeking additional volunteers.

In an interview with The JOLT this week, Coit said said they had made 2,200 holiday boxes, filled with things like cranberries, scalloped potatoes, pumpkin pie ingredients and more. He anticipated that all the boxes would be gone soon. The distribution of holiday fare in addition to its normal services makes for more work for the smaller volunteer force. They made Thanksgiving-themed boxes in November, and gave out around 3,000 of them.

In response to the virus, the food bank has extended its operations to include various pop-up locations  in Lacey and Tumwater. Nowadays, the pop-up locations are just on alternate Thursdays at St. Martins University in Lacey or Mountain View Church in Tumwater. People can’t enter their mainstay buildings to shop around for food like they used to be able to. So they don’t get a say in what’s in their prepared box of food. Coit said it’s not an ideal set up for a food bank, but it’s the safest way to distribute food without spreading the virus.

Anyone interested in learning more about volunteering can contact the Thurston County Food Bank at 360-352-8597 or visit the volunteer page on their website.