The Sequatchie County Food Bank in Dunlap, Tennessee, has operated for more than 20 years, but the COVID-19 pandemic has forced the longtime county resource to make changes and boost services to answer increasing needs.
One day last week, the food bank distributed goods to 110 families in four hours, according to treasurer Denise Kell. The number of food bank clients has increased 20-30% as the pandemic rages, so supplies are being stretched.
The food bank was initiated by 19 churches in the county that make up the two-decade-old nonprofit Sequatchie County Fellowship of Churches, which supports the food bank, the fellowship's largest mission, Kell said.
"This curbside service is working very, very well," Kell said of the coronavirus-led change in operations. "Our volunteers inside the food bank all have masks and gloves on to protect themselves from each other as much as possible."
The food bank is housed in an old county-owned middle school building in Dunlap. The doors are kept open while food is delivered to limit the barriers as food is carried out to customers waiting in their cars, she said. Volunteers use two-way radios to coordinate deliveries.
Food bank manager Fred Oberkircher said Friday that the pandemic led to a number of unexpected changes and problems, he said.
"When the coronavirus came along, several things happened," Oberkircher said. "First, basically our number of clients didn't change. What happened, though, our number of new clients went way up, almost 30%, and we discovered that a significant number of our regular clients - I'll use a Tennessee word: 'hunkered down' - they just stayed home. They didn't go out at all."
The total number of clients stayed the same, which Oberkircher found "surprising," he said, and also revealed that "oftentimes the people in the greatest need weren't being served anymore because they weren 't leaving home at all."
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Combine that with the "disconcerting" fact that the food bank's volunteers are retirees who worked there "as a personal mission," and because of the pandemic "they had to put safety above the mission," he said.
"Over the last couple of weeks, we've had almost a 100% turnover in volunteers," Oberkircher said.
Getting new volunteers in recent weeks has been a struggle and "we have taken every precaution we can to ensure people's safety," he said. Volunteers aren't always able to help consistently, he added.
Add to the volunteer shortage the fact that the local Meals on Wheels program has reduced service, and the problem expands.
"So what happened is probably 50 people who were used to getting a meal every Friday aren't getting those meals now, but they're still homebound," Oberkircher said. "We're preparing food boxes - 15 or 20 - to try to help with that need a little bit."
Those meals are being provided through a joint effort with the Sequatchie County-Dunlap Chamber of Commerce. More help is needed with that effort, too, Oberkircher said.
Despite the problems and shortages, the COVID-19 impact has been a learning experience that has elements that might remain after the pandemic is over, he said.
Since the change of the food delivery method to a drive-thru system, the idea has been popular with volunteers and clients.
"We may do this forever," he said.
HOW TO HELP AND GET HELP
To donate to the Sequatchie County Food Bank, mail donations to: Sequatchie County Fellowship of Churches Food Bank P.O. Box 2041 Dunlap, TN 37327 The facility address is 103 Heard St., Dunlap, Tenn. Hours: Monday-Thursday 9 a.m.-noon, Friday 9 a.m.-noon, 1-4 p.m. CDT To reach the food bank for help or information call 423-949-7716
Meanwhile, the food bank needs donations and volunteers, Oberkircher and Kell said.
The 20,000 pounds of food the bank was able to provide each month is being stretched further, they said. That averaged about 50 pounds for each recipient but demand and supply issues now have reduced the food cart to about 37 pounds per recipient, so "we're still 13 pounds short of where we'd like to be," Oberkircher said.
The Chattanooga Food Bank is the supplier of food for the operation in Sequatchie.
The food bank has benefited recently from more donations of money and improved understanding in the community of the volume of food needed, he said. Donations are the food bank's only source of income.
While those developments are positive, the lack of volunteers is a concern, Kell and Oberkircher said.
"We operate solely on volunteers," Kell said, noting also that there were many other food banks across the region that were probably facing struggles, too.
"We're all in this together, and we're all trying to feed our communities," Kell said. "It's different times now. I want things to get back to normal."
Contact Ben Benton at bbenton@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6569. Follow him on Twitter @BenBenton or at www.facebook.com/benbenton1.