Janice Allen sets bags of food in the bed of a truck during the April 20 Feeding America food distribution event at Ephram White Park. on Monday, April 20, 2020. (Grace Ramey) Grace Ramey/[email protected]
With the coronavirus pandemic continuing to have an impact on the economy and keeping unemployment levels in double digits, the Elizabethtown-based Feeding America nonprofit organization has scheduled three more food distribution events for Warren County this month.
Monica Ruehling, development director for Feeding America’s Elizabethtown office, said the organization has scheduled the following events:
- Monday at Ephram White Park from 9 a.m. until noon.
- Wednesday at Buchanon Park from 9 a.m. until noon.
- July 29 at Lampkin Park from 8:30 to 11 a.m.
Ruehling said Feeding America will have enough food available to provide a week’s worth of food for 2,500 households.
The Feeding America regional office in Elizabethtown, which serves 42 counties, normally makes one trip per month to Warren County but has increased that to three during the pandemic.
Ruehling said the Elizabethtown office distributed 1.4 million pounds of food throughout the 42-county region in June, up from 1.1 million pounds in June 2019.
“We don’t see this ending any time soon,” Ruehling said. “As people are trying to get back to work, they may find that their food dollars don’t stretch as far. This could impact us for another six months to a year easily.”
Despite the increased demand, Ruehling said her office continues to have a good supply of food.
She said the state’s Farms to Food Banks program has helped keep Feeding America stocked with food.
Through this program, and money provided by the state, the Kentucky Association of Food Banks purchases excess produce from Kentucky farmers. This produce is then sent to the seven food banks serving Kentucky, including Feeding America, and finally distributed to families in need.
Ruehling said she expects Feeding America will continue making the extra trips to Warren County after this month.
“I’m not sure what August will bring,” she said. “We’re not sure about staffing at the parks, but I hope we’ll still be able to do it.”
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