People are coming in never before seen numbers, but thus far area food pantries have been able to keep up with the demand.

“There is a really good amount of food available,” said West End Food Pantry Director Karena Thek. “The government food flowing in is phenomenal. It’s at the highest level I’ve seen in 20 years plus.”

That’s particularly good news, Thek said, because the number of people hoping to get some of that food continues to rise.

West End Food Pantry, located at the Eldred Township Community Center, served 325 families during its last distribution and on Saturday, it is expecting that total to hit almost 500.

“The need wasn’t small before the coronavirus, but it’s certainly an uptick now,” Thek said.

Saturday’s distribution, open from 9-noon, is drive-thru only. Guidelines on who is eligible, what documentation is needed, and other instructions can be found on the pantry’s website, westendpantry.com, and Facebook page. Thek asks that people keep their trunks completely clean to aid in the pantry’s no contact with customers effort.

“We think we have a good system in place, but we normally work with about 70 volunteers and because of the virus and social distancing, we’re down to about a dozen of our youngest and healthiest,” Thek said. “We have so many people wanting to help and it breaks my heart to say no, but we have to be on the safe side.”

Lehighton’s food pantry, run through Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church, 175 S. Third St., is also now drive-thru only. It is open 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. each Tuesday for those living within Lehighton Area School District who meet the guidelines.

Organizer Carolyn Long credited Rocky Ahner, a Lehighton area native and current county commissioner, with going above and beyond to help keep the shelves stocked.

“He’s been a great champion for us and really has gotten us a sufficient amount of food to start the month,” Long said. “We’re only taking monetary donations from the public right now for safety reasons.”

Both pantries, in a social distancing effort, are working with a limited amount of volunteers, but Long said the community has been willing to chip in at every turn.

“We had a woman bring us coffee and pies from McDonald’s on Tuesday as we worked in the rain,” Long said. “We’ve had students and teachers before they started the online learning come and ask how they can help. Lehighton has always come together as a community. They’ve been incredible and we thank them.”

Long said the pantry served about 134 families the week of March 17 and the number has been rising.

“Our whole month of March was higher than normal,” she said.

Thek said a normal food pantry distribution day operates like a grocery store. Patrons have their choice of different items. The virus has changed protocol, however, and everything is now pre-bagged by the pantry.

“I think that we’ll probably be pre-bagging for many months to come, even for a little bit after we get the all-clear because you just want to be on the safe side,” Thek said. “We’ve had upticks in our numbers before, for example when the swine flu was prevalent, but it went back to normal pretty quickly. The length of time and the unknown here, we haven’t seen that before.”

The West End Food Pantry is also taking monetary donations from people, but they are also asking for help keeping a little blue box outside the community center filled. The box has staples such as baby diapers, mac and cheese, Ramen noodles and other items that can hold at an outdoor temperature.

“We put that there and it’s stocked 24/7 because we really don’t want people going hungry,” Thek said. “It has been amazing how many times throughout the day it goes from empty to full. People see it empty and they have been filling it. There are so many wonderful people around here.”

Choice has also evaporated at the Lehighton Food Pantry, which has turned to pre-bagging items. Long has been volunteering there since the 1990s and the measures that have to be taken now are the most drastic she can remember.

“People have always had some choice,” she said. “We do try to make sure they’re getting some type of meat, even if it is hot dogs or bacon. We’re also including an extra bag for the kids. We always had items like baby food and diapers, but we’re trying to do a little extra right now for the children.”