Though Monroe County moved into the COVID-19 mitigation green phase on June 19, the twice-monthly food distribution at West End Food Pantry in Kunkletown will remain outside a little while longer.

“We will remain a drive-thru for some time,” said Executive Director Karena Thek during a recent Saturday distribution. “Eldred Township is talking about waiting one month to open the building. This will allow for some cleaning and disinfecting.”

The food pantry is located inside the Eldred Township Community Center. When the township closed the building in March, Thek and her team of volunteers had to scramble to come up with an alternate way to distribute its food.

She is extremely grateful for her essential volunteers.

“We relied on a healthy, youthful core crew and they stepped up each and every week as needed,” she said.

Smooth transition

Thek worked with Rich Salter, the elected constable of Eldred Township, and his wife, Virginia Salter, the Eldred Township deputy constable, to establish an outdoor drive-thru distribution system.

“The volunteers are working hard. The transition from the previous indoor distribution to this outside one was amazing. It went smoothly,” said Virginia Salter.

The constables provide traffic control and keep-the-peace details.

“The clients are very positive, compliant, understanding and receptive to what we are doing with the drive-thru,” she said.

Until this week, Thek relied on the same core of volunteers. Occasional volunteers, such as local students and high school athletes, did not help for the past three months.

“I’m excited to be back helping the community,” said Melissa Pfancook, who had volunteered several times before the pandemic began.

Thek said it takes 25 volunteers each Saturday - a few in the field doing registration, a few who continue to transfer items from inside the building to the tables set up outside, a few who restock the produce, one person who breaks down the boxes, and the two teams who load the cars.

“It’s been a positive experience. We’ve found a way to still hand out food, no matter what,” said volunteer Mark Haydt. “It just shows that no matter how tough it gets, people are still willing to help out their neighbor.”

Increased demand

Job losses, short-term layoffs and other uncertainties surrounding the pandemic created an uptick in families needing assistance - not only in Monroe County but throughout the nation.

In mid-March, food pantries all over saw an increase of families at their newly established drive-thru food distributions.

“We were feeding about 250 families during each distribution before the pandemic,” said Thek.

In February, they fed 508 families, with a total of 1,516 people.

Then it began seeing an increase in March, with 596 families and a total of 1,801 people. April was even higher, with 776 families and a total of 2,411 people.

“We needed donations more than ever,” Bill Thek said.

Thankfully, as their demand increased, so did their support from community members in the form of increased food donations, he said.

Local churches and other groups organized food drives. They collected high-demand items such as cereal, soup, macaroni and cheese, peanut butter and pasta.

In May “the numbers started to trend downward, was 668 families and a total of 1,905 people; and in June it was 545 families, with a total of 1,588 people,” said Karena Thek.

Clients’ feedback

When one of the first cars pulled into the loading area, Bill Thek and his team hurriedly did each of their tasks.

Only two volunteers are allowed to have contact with the driver and physically touch the car to open a trunk or back door to put items on the back seat.

“These people are fantastic. You cannot beat the service they provide. We are blessed,” said Jerry Clark of Gilbert.

Thek greeted her, had her put the car in park and pop the trunk.

They had a few moments of chit-chat while his team grabbed bags full of produce, meat, candy, bread, rolls, chips, soap and paper plates, and boxes of miscellaneous food items.

Rapidly, Clark received a trunkful of essential items to sustain her for the next couple weeks. Thek closed her trunk and told her to have a great week. She drove away, and they awaited their next car.

“This is a very lovely system. I get a lot of groceries each time,” said Trudy Griffin of Saylorsburg, as Thek’s team filled her trunk.

Upcoming distribution

The next distribution date is July 4 from 9 a.m. to noon. Thek said a lot of clients have been asking since that is a holiday.

For more information, https://www.westendpantry.com.