Food Bank for Larimer County is Prepared to Continue Feeding Those in Need During Covid-19 Pandemic

By the Larimer County Food Bank

LOVELAND, COLO – March 13, 2020 – The COVID-19 pandemic is presenting unprecedented challenges for organizations world-wide. The Food Bank for Larimer County is no exception. We continue to refine our operations plan in response to the ever-changing coronavirus public health crisis. With the closures of schools and congregate meal sites, the Food Bank is focusing on three primary areas: seniors, kids and our food pantry clients.

Accommodations for Seniors
With most public health officials advising seniors to practice social distancing, the Food Bank is exploring ways to get food to the seniors we serve without them needing to access our pantries. We are in the process of contacting many of the 750 seniors who are signed up for the Commodities Supplemental Food Program (CSFP) with the goal of delivering food to their doorstep starting next week.

Accommodations for Kids
The state’s recent waiver of the congregate meal requirement allows the Food Bank to prepare hundreds of Grab & Go meals and deliver them to areas of highest need. In fact, the Food Bank is ramping up efforts to provide sack lunches for kids and is working with both Thompson and Poudre School Districts to ensure kids who rely on free and reduced-price meals continue to have access to those meals while schools are closed.

Accommodations for Food Bank Clients
Our Fresh Food Share pantries serve an average of 14,000 families each month. The pantries are client-choice, meaning clients shop for food as they would in a traditional grocery store. With the growing risk posed by the spread of the coronavirus, we are looking at several options to protect the wellbeing of staff, volunteers and clients while continuing to provide access to food for those in need. These options include temporarily halting our current distribution process in favor of a more streamlined process.

How You Can Help
In addition to the operational stress resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, we anticipate challenges sourcing food and a disruption in manufacturing and transportation as the virus escalates. In preparation, we have already purchased large quantities of food to fortify our donated inventory and we are asking for the community’s support to ensure we can effectively respond to this evolving crisis. We also anticipate that our volunteer support will temporarily decline as the disease spreads. If you have not recently traveled to a level 2 country or higher and would like to volunteer at the Food Bank, we can certainly use your help.

To make a donation, to sign-up to volunteer, or to learn more about changes to Food Bank operations, the community is asked to visit https://foodbanklarimer.org/news/covid-19/.