COVID-19 has shut down most of the country, but everyone needs to eat and two area meal programs are continuing to serve Monongalia County’s most vulnerable residents.
Morgantown Area Meals on Wheels has implemented new rules for its drivers and clients and is still delivering meals, at least “as long as we can” its manager, Sara Bishop, said.
Drivers have hand sanitizer and gloves in their vehicles and instead of delivering directly to clients, each client was asked to place a cooler outside their door for the meal to be deposited in, Bishop said.
The program also took steps to make sure its clients have an emergency supply of food by delivering four meals worth of shelf-stable food on Monday and Tuesday, Bishop said.
Those meals were donated by Target. WVU also donated space to store frozen meals, which were purchased in case the cook’s can’t make hot meals, Bishop said.
Community Kitchen
The Community Kitchen, based at Trinity Episcopal Church in downtown Morgantown, is also serving meals through the COVID-19 crisis but has limited itself to take-out meals only, board member Carol Henry said.
“The clients do not come inside,” Henry said. “They just get their lunch and go on their way.”
The meals are available at the side door of Trinity Episcopal Church from 10:45 a.m.-noon and do not require any ID, proof of income or citizenship.
It’s hard to predict how many meals will be needed each day but typically the program hands out 85-115, Henry said.
Community Kitchen really needs donations so it can buy items such as take-out and lids for cups that it doesn’t normally have to budget for, Henry said.
Donations of sliced bread, fresh produce, paper napkins or individual condiment packets would also be welcome, Henry said.
Checks can be mailed to Community Kitchen Inc., P.O. Box 922, Morgantown WV, 2650. Those interested in donating other items can email morgantowncommunitykitchen@gmail.com for information on how to do that.
The Community Kitchen does not need additional volunteers and has split its current volunteers into a serving shift and an afternoon preparation shift, Henry said.
“Normally we would love more volunteers but we have enough for now because of requirements for social distancing,” she said.
Meals on Wheels has already had people offer to volunteer to deliver food since the pandemic began and doesn’t need more right now, Bishop said.
However, if people are interested in volunteering at either organization, they can reach out to morgantowncommunitykitchen@gmail.com or visit morgantownwvmow.org. Volunteers will be contacted as needed, both women said.
