Al's Outreach Outtakes

I have shared a couple of articles with you about the process changes we have made at the Food Closet that allows us to serve the community while still doing all that we can to keep the incredible volunteers safe. Those changes seem to be working well which is good since I suspect we will follow this process for some time to come. Many of you have contacted me and said “That’s all well and good, but how’s the food supply?” The short answer is, much like the local grocery stores, OK but not great.
 
BC19 (before COVID19), about 75% of the food we distributed came from the Oregon Food Bank. Over the 8+ years I have been doing this I learned to pay attention to certain things when ordering through them and managed, for the most part, to keep things relatively stocked. As you would expect, however, their food supply chain, like the grocery stores, has been dramatically impacted and as a result, so has ours. For a few weeks, like the grocery stores, there was not much of anything available. Fortunately our warehouse at the Food Closet was pretty well stocked and we were able to draw down on it. With the back pack program halted, we tapped into those items as well. After a few weeks, like the grocery stores, things began to stabilize a little at the Oregon Food Bank. The variety of products is far more limited than it was, but staples are beginning to appear again. When they do, we try to fill our little warehouse space again.
 
The Oregon Food Bank believes that the situation will improve in June. That’s when they expect USDA (government supplied) product will begin to arrive. Until then, they are providing us weekly with funds to make local purchases. A great BIG shout out to the Knights of Columbus here at Holy Trinity who, a few weeks ago, asked how they could help. They have turned into an army of shoppers! Each week I provide them with a list of needed items which they fill  by going to multiple stores. Rather than wiping out the shelves, they are working with store managers to see what they might have available in cases. So far, so good!
 
Just like you, we are getting creative in our weekly shopping. And just like you, it’s not great, but it’s OK.