While the ongoing coronavirus pandemic has put a halt to several activities throughout Hattiesburg and Petal, food pantries and soup kitchens across in the area are making changes – whether that be extending hours, reducing hours or exploring alternative options to their services – to ensure their existing and new clients continue to receive much-needed meals and other supplies during the crisis.
At Edwards Street Fellowship Center, where the food pantry provides emergency and supplemental food every month to more than 1,500 households in seven counties, staff has extended hours in an effort to avoid an abundance of people on site at any given time. In addition to the normal food pantry hours of 9 a.m.-4 p.m. on Thursdays and Fridays, the center also is open from 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays to serve clients.
“That has helped, because we are seeing more people for sure,” executive director Ann McCullen said. “On the 12th and 13th, when things really started, people became so much more aware, it was moving closer to home, and people were getting more anxious. We saw a 13 percent increase in the number of bags of groceries that we distributed, versus the week before that.
“Most of the calls we get are, first, somebody who’s already gotten services from us asking if we’re still open and giving out food. The second-biggest one is people who have never needed us and they’re trying to figure out how they qualify – what they have to bring, if they need an appointment, that kind of thing.”
To help serve the increased number of clients at the center, McCullen has assisted first-time clients with their applications, which in turn frees up front-desk employees to continue intake.
“(Friday) morning, just within an hour, I probably did 15 new applications – that represents 15 households, not individuals,” McCullen said.
To comply with health officials’ request of social distancing – keeping at least 6 feet of space between individuals – many of the chairs have been removed from the food pantry’s lobby. If those chairs are full, clients will be asked to wait outside or in their vehicles until space becomes available.
Because of limited supplies caused by the pandemic, Edwards Street officials are experiencing a bit of difficulty obtaining bulk food from their normal supply chain.
“The same rules apply to us that apply to the general public – there are limits,” McCullen said. “So instead of being able to order 200 cases of canned chicken, we could order two.
“So we are working on other ways, like through different groups that are contacting us and asking us if there’s something they can do off-site, and I say, ‘yes, please collect food for us.’ I never want to cry wolf – today we have food on the shelf; we just don’t know what’s happening down the road, and we’re trying to prepare because we can’t replenish through our normal channels.”
The center has received some help from students from the University of Southern Mississippi and William Carey University – where classes have been moved online – who have dropped off items like ramen noodles and canned goods. In addition, Rep. Kent McCarty will donate 100 percent of proceeds of sales on March 28 at his coffee shop, Java Moe’s Coffee Company, to Edwards Street Fellowship Center.
“So people are aware, but at the same time, they’re trying to take care of their families, and that’s what they need to do,” McCullen said. “So we’re just trying to be creative, trying to find new ways to get donations.
“But definitely, if people want to drop canned or non-perishable foods off at the food pantry, we’re here 9 to 5 weekdays at 1919 Edwards Street.”
Friday evening, the Edwards Street Fellowship Thrift Store on Lincoln Road closed to the public until further notice, although the employees will continue to be paid while accepting the large number of donations currently coming in from the community. So as not to put employees at risk, the Edwards Street truck will cease picking up donations for the time being, but individuals can drop off donations at the store from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. on weekdays.
The Fellowship Health Clinic, which is adjacent to the food pantry, is open but has canceled eligibility screenings for April and does not offer screenings for coronavirus. Officials hope to resume new patient screenings on May 5 and 12, and current patients will be notified if their March appointment time is changed.
“So many of the people who volunteer their time as physicians and nurses with us, they still work, and their employers are pulling them in for extra hours,” McCullen said. “Their duties have increased in their work setting, so we have had to shuffle things around quite a bit.
“(Last) week, we should have had three days of clinic and we condensed that into one, based on when we could get physicians in here. We are trying to do as much telemedicine as we possibly can – we talk to our patients over the phone rather than in person.”
Christian Services on East 2nd Street is keeping its doors open, and will continue to offer two meals every weekday. Although in-house meals are temporarily suspended, visitors can still get takeout meals from noon-1 p.m. on weekdays.
“We all know that need is not going anywhere,” CEO and executive director Jim Prout said. “If anything, what we’re seeing are those who have never had to ask, or were never in need of assistance – they have steady jobs, they have a home and are paying bills and living a normal life.
“All of a sudden, we’ve got businesses that are having to close their doors and people that are not drawing a check. It doesn’t take long to run out of funds, and so we’re styling some of what we’re doing to accommodate and help bring peace. This is a time of uncertainty, and we’re trying to help them see peace.”
Christian Services will also continue its Operation Compassion, the Meals-on-Wheels-style mobile unit that delivers prepared food five days a week to remote low-income areas. Volunteers will meet clients at their door rather than come inside the home to deliver the meals.
“We’re still just reinforcing that we don’t want you to feel like you’re not important enough for us to stop and take care of that,” Prout said. “That one prepared meal is almost like an anchor sometimes, that God gives us to be able to say, ‘this piece is taken care of.’ So we want to keep that promise that God’s got this.”
Staff members are also in the process of putting together emergency food baskets for individuals in need.
“We’re giving that special assistance to be able to get some frozen, canned and dry items into the homes,” Prout said. “We want to give what we have to help our community, and it may not cover everything, but between (all the area agencies) we’ll start seeing the plates being full. And maybe some of that anxiety and uncertainty may subside as we walk through the storm.”
Officials from the Petal Children’s Task Force, which provides food and services to more than 458 families in the area, are seeking donations to keep up with the influx of new clients.
“We have people now that’s never been to us, who are realizing they can’t get food, so they’re trying to get in with us,” executive director Demaris Lee said. “We definitely need food – now, where you’re going to find that food, I don’t know, because the shelves have to be replenished.
“But I’ve talked with people who have said they’re getting up early in the morning (to go get supplies), so everybody’s been wonderful for us. We are just hanging in there and doing the best we can.”
Beginning Monday, the organization reduced its hours to 9 a.m-noon on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, but free lunches delivered to the center by Christian Services will not be affected. The center also recently received some frozen food, such as rotisserie chickens, that will be distributed with food boxes.
“Christian Services brings 50 lunches to us each day,” Lee said. “They were giving us 25 lunches, but now we have children coming up and getting the lunches, so they upped my lunches to 50 now.
“I know the school is making food, but the kids that rode the bus and ate at school have got to get to the school to eat. Maggie and Jim at Christian Services are great, and if I need more, all I have to do is call.”
Individuals can drop off financial or food donations to the Petal Children’s Task Force office at 314 South George St. in Petal, or mail in the financial contributions. The center is especially in need of macaroni and cheese, ramen noodles, SpaghettiOs, spaghetti, spaghetti sauce and crackers.
“(On March 13th), it started out and we did 40 boxes that one day,” Lee said. “And Monday was just swamped – I don’t even know how many boxes we did Monday – and it’s been that way every day.
“And now people are coming up and asking if they can sign up for a box, and we had to stop that (on March 19) because we don’t have time to do the paperwork and wait on the other people. We don’t want anybody to go hungry, though, so we’ve got people who get homeless bags – if they can’t get a box of food, we don’t let them go away with just nothing.”
Lee said contributions from the community have so far been a great help, with one woman donating the money from a canceled trip and another writing a check for supplies.
“It’s wonderful, the people that are doing that for us, because we’re going to have to buy extra food and we don’t have the money to do that,” she said. “And Jim (Prout) helps us out tremendously – without Jim, we couldn’t do what we do.
“Also, Extra Table helps us – we’re getting an order in (this week), and they’re going to try to give us more than what we usually get. We appreciate everybody and what they do, because when we need something, all we have to do is ask and people come out and give it to us.”
In addition, Twin Forks Rising Community Development Corporation will hold a Drive-Thru/Grab and Go Food Give Away from 1:30-3 p.m. March 26 at 601 East Pine St. in downtown Hattiesburg.
