‘People are hungry’: Coronavirus won’t stop this group from feeding people in need
For a group founded on bringing people together, coronavirus and social distancing present an altogether new challenge: A challenge to serve more people who need the most help finding a meal.
“It’s very different this week,” said Darlene Smith, volunteer with The Community Cafe. “Everything is to go. Everything is quarantined.”
The Community Cafe opened Thursday morning at Sisk Memorial Baptist Church in Fort Mill. Its food truck ran an hour later to serve the Blackmon Road, Catawba Terrace and Cel-River trailer court areas of Rock Hill. Free meals were takeout only — the new normal for the foreseeable future, volunteers said — due to COVID-19 restrictions on public gatherings.
Plans had other Cafe sites opening at Lake Wylie Lutheran Church in Fort Mill on Friday, and again at Lake Wylie Christian Assembly on Tuesday. The food truck had its Friday route set for Paradise, Steele Street Park and the Knollwood apartments in Fort Mill.
Volunteers say they’ve already seen an increase in meal requests. The Cafe sites and truck typically combine to serve about 1,500 free meals per week. Yet people want more.
“People are scared,” said food truck volunteer Kristi Krathwohl. “We’re still going to keep serving anybody who needs food. We’re getting requests hourly. We have people wanting to know can we increase our output, can we come more often.”
Mary Rasmussen, assistant to the president for the Cafe, said she’s fearful demand will continue to spike among the most vulnerable people the Cafe serves.
“It’s going to be bad,” Rasmussen said. “Really bad.”
The South Carolina Department of Employment and Workforce on Monday reported record employment and an unemployment rate more than a full percentage point lower than the national average. As of January, South Carolina had more than 2.3 million workers and unemployment at 2.4%.
On Wednesday the same department released information on a new online resource hub to answer common unemployment services questions related to unprecedented concern about the coronavirus.
“We have seen an exponential increase in the number of filings for unemployment insurance claims as well as call volume,” department director Dan Ellzey said in a statement. “Our staff is working very hard to help South Carolinians in this difficult time, and we ask for your patience as we work together to address your workforce needs.”
Assistance programs, food pantries deal with COVID-19
Community Cafe isn’t a soup kitchen. Founded in early 2010, it started in the affluent yet still recovering from economic recession area of Lake Wylie. The idea was to create a place where people of all backgrounds — people who could use a free meal or who could pay to feed the whole place, alike — could gather for soup and a sandwich.
“We do have a mix of people,” Smith said. “We do have people that are millionaires and they donate. And some don’t. And that’s ok.”
In recent years, the organization has grown to include more deliveries to seniors and lower-income areas. Rasmussen said in some small parts of the county there isn’t running water, making coronavirus prevention steps many take for granted, difficult.
“How do people there actually do simple things like wash their hands?” Rasmussen said. “We have communities like that.”
She said she’s heard from single mothers with no cars, who can’t go shopping every day. Runs on food and other supplies impact those people, Rasmussen said, when they can go.
”They are going to the food store, and there’s no food there,” she said.
Senior citizen volunteers a ‘population of concern’
Rasmussen said she’s been in contact with law enforcement and state agencies in attempt to get the Cafe on any emergency response list necessary to operate should further restrictions limit who can leave their homes.
She also has concern for Cafe volunteers. Like many organizations run by volunteers, many with the Cafe are seniors or retirees themselves.
“It is a population of concern, and I’m concerned for them,” Rasmussen said. “And they’re still showing up right now.”
She hasn’t been helping for some time now as Rasmussen herself suffered from flu-like symptoms. She tested for coronavirus on Wednesday, and awaits results.
The takeout only setup at Cafe sites means a kitchen can run on a half dozen or so volunteers rather than three times that many with sit down meals. Cafe leaders are telling volunteers not to come at any sign of sickness, and to use social distancing methods if they do. For many volunteers, the work is too important to stay home if they’re healthy enough to do it.
“There’s a lot of people, the older people, they’re shut-ins,” Smith said. “We have to provide for them. And probably we need to do an extra step by going there throughout the week and see if they are in need of anything.”
Donations and volunteers have been sporadic. Krathwohl is hopeful more young, healthy people being off work and home may lead to volunteers willing to help for an hour or so at a time.
“We can appreciate people want to stay home, they want to stay safe,” she said. “Absolutely, take care of yourself. But if you’re able and you’re willing, come out and help us.”
An hour before her truck left Thursday, Krathwohl still wasn’t sure she’d have enough bread. She expected some last-minute donations. In a way, the food uncertainty made mainstream by the coronavirus could highlight what groups like the Cafe do year-round.
“This is ongoing,” Krathwohl said. “The coronavirus will go away. We will overcome this. But there’s been a need always. The need will continue. Right now, it’s more need than we’ve seen.”
Because the Cafe isn’t a soup kitchen, and because it isn’t exclusive to the homeless or any other single economic demographic, the people who rely on it tend to feed economic and other world events just like anyone else would. Which, for now, means uncertainty.
“It’s so highly in demand,” Smith said. “People are hungry, and I hope that people come to the realization that we have to trust on God. We trust on our God to do all this because He provides, and we work for Him. And He provides.”
Other assistance centers, food pantries
- The Clover Area Assistance Center is open during its regular hours amid the coronavirus threat. Executive director Karen van Vierssen told The Herald that the pantry is still open to all who live within the Clover School District — the center is handing out pre-packaged meals instead of having the people shop. On Wednesday, van Vierssen told The Herald that the CAAC’s board of directors met to establish an emergency plan, which has been in place for about a week, and things are going as they “expected it would,” with no long lines nor a shortage of supplies. She credited her community for their abundant donations.
- Pathways Community Center in Rock Hill is also maintaining its normal operating hours. Grace Lewis, the center’s director, told The Herald that the center has experienced a slight uptick in people using the center, but that is largely because typical gathering places for Rock Hill’s homeless population, including the local library, has been closed to the public due to coronavirus concerns. Lewis said the center has the facilities to accommodate more people, and that the center is accepting more supply donations. A full list can be seen on the center’s Facebook page.
- Fort Mill Care Center is also maintaining its regular hours, per its website.
Alex Zietlow contributed reporting.
