An increased need for food has made it essential to get backpacks of supplies to kids whose families are facing hardship during the global health crisis.
Central Pennsylvania Food Bank staffers Lana DeNune and Cara Fisher are making sure that resources for kids don’t dwindle during the COVID-19 shutdown.
While the needs have increased, packing requirements have had to be adjusted, Fisher said. Volunteers used to come to the Williamsport facility to help process food, but the food bank has since moved its distribution centers to larger hubs that can accommodate social distancing efforts.
That leaves DeNune, the programs coordinator, and Fisher, the marketing and communications coordinator, with the job of packing weekend-food bags for local kids.
“Not every family has the financial ability to go out to the store and stock up on food,” DeNune said.
Fisher and DuNune bring in their husbands to help pack on occasion, but other than that, it is just the two of them.
“Hunger isn’t selective. We’re all facing this together in the world,” Fisher said.
Finding gaps in local resources is just as crucial, DeNune said. She spends her time assessing what is available to those in need and how the food bank can step in to offer assistance.
She and Fisher say they are prepared to continue packing bags as long as possible.
“As long as we’re healthy and willing and able, I do not foresee stopping anything that we’re doing,” DeNune said.
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