The church that I go to with my family, Newman UCC in Rumford, RI, is the site of the Bread of Life Food Pantry. The pantry is a collaboration of six local churches that distribute food two Tuesdays a month. The food comes from donations from the individuals at the six churches, local farms, and the Rhode Island Food Bank. On an average week, the pantry serves about 80 families that represent over 300 people.
Because of COVID-19, there are a number of issues impacting food pantries. One is that recipients cannot come into the building. The second is that as most of the volunteers have traditionally been older people who are now unable to assist due to the increased risks they face. And, finally, there can not be more than five people working in the same area, while also complying with social distancing. To address these challenges, our pastor reached out to see if some younger people from the same household could volunteer as a group. My family eagerly stepped forward.
My brother, Nate, and his friend, Kiki (who moved in with us in early March) and I are volunteering as bag fillers and runners. We add the final items like bread, fresh vegetables, and bananas to the produce bags in the church hall and carry the bags, plus the bags of prepackaged dry goods, out to the tables in the parking lot. The process works pretty well.
My dad, Tom Mottur ’84, works on another team with our pastor and a couple of other volunteers. They direct the cars and load the four bags of groceries we pack for each family represented in the cars. Last time we did this, we passed out about 90 sets of groceries for families. We are now preparing for the next distribution on April 14th where we expect to deliver over 200 sets (800 bags!).
This is an unprecedented time and my family and I are pleased to be able to do what we can to help others.
