Two food pantries in Wyandotte County are seeing an increased need, according to Denise Ogilvie, vice president of community engagement of Catholic Charities of Northeast Kansas.
The two food pantries are at 2220 Central Ave. and 1708 Steele Road in Kansas City, Kansas.
Ogilvie estimated that the number of people needing services has increased about 30 percent since the COVID-19 pandemic started here, although exact numbers are not yet available.
The food pantries have changed the days that they are open to Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, with more time to clean and restock, she said.
Catholic Charities completed its monthly mobile food distribution last Saturday at Harmon High School and saw a 30 percent increase there, she added.
They also are assisting in providing boxed or sack lunches in Wyandotte County to children ages 0 to 18, she said, and are distributing lunches out of the Central Avenue location. Currently Catholic Charities is working with the Housing Authority, discussing driving the organization’s bus to each Kansas City, Kansas, public housing site to hand out lunches from the bus.
While in the summertime, Catholic Charities also provides parent lunches, she said currently they don’t have that option, as they were not prepared for the emergency.
At the food pantries, clients formerly came into the pantry to choose their food, but at the recommendation of Harvesters and national experts, Catholic Charities has changed to a drive-up model, she said. They bag groceries and place them in people’s cars now.
Ogilvie said another big change because of COVID-19 might be that clients who need additional services, such as housing and utility, are now all handled over the phone, not in person. A client calls, and an appointment is made to call them on the phone and discuss their needs, instead of a face-to-face meeting.
“We expect once this stay-at-home order is finished we will be seeing more people,” Ogilvie said.
Currently, utilities are not being shut off in Wyandotte County and there is a restriction on evicting people from their residences in the state.
When some of the restrictions on eviction and utility assistance have been lifted, Ogilvie said she expected to see an increase in people needing help in those areas.
Some of the local food pantries, including some run by churches, have been closed during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Part of the problem is that many volunteers are 65 and older, and they’re concerned for their own health, as they should be, Ogilvie said.
“We have a decreased number of volunteers and are hearing that across the board for the entire metro area,” she said. “Thankfully for us, we are still relying on volunteers who have continued to help us.”
Also, they are backfilling with staff members who usually have other roles in the agency, but are stepping up and helping keep the food pantry doors open, she said.
Catholic Charities typically relies on parishes for a lot of the donations, but since churches are under an order of no more than 10 people in a building, they have not had the same amount of donations as previously.
“Thankfully, a lot of people have stepped up,” Ogilvie said, “and want to give a donation to buy food. We are in need of donations and also are thankful to those who have stepped up to help us out.”
They need donations of food and money for the food pantries.
For more information on services, volunteering or donations, visit https://catholiccharitiesks.org/.