On a crisp May evening, Wendy Baur had earned a rest by the time dusk fell on a middle school gymnasium that was transformed into a supersized food pantry for the pandemic. Responding to a 630% increase in need since mid-March, she and her team of 55 volunteers had just handed out full grocery bags to about 375 families reeling from this gateway city\u2019s economic collapse. It was time to go home.<\/p>\n
But Ms. Baur, who\u2019s directed the First Congregational Church of Revere food pantry in Massachusetts for 18 years, wasn\u2019t relaxing as she leaned on a stack of canned soup cases. She was worrying. If even one volunteer tests positive for COVID-19, she said, the operation might grind to a halt as all contacts would have to quarantine. Just as concerning: the prospect of running out of food.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery week it\u2019s a struggle to resupply, to get more food,\u201d says Ms. Baur, who also runs a research lab at Tufts Medical Center. \u201cAll of the food pantries are competing for a time slot at the food bank warehouse. Some days I can\u2019t even get a slot. … I get online at midnight when you can pick your slot, but when I get on, they\u2019re all taken. They\u2019re gone within one second.\u201d<\/p>\n
Read it all<\/a>.<\/p>\n Feeding America during COVID-19: How food pantries meet record demand via @csmonitor<\/a> https:\/\/t.co\/wdGIcXQVZZ<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Earl Anthony Wayne (@EAnthonyWayne) June 3, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n