National Guard to help Lexington food bank as coronavirus causes inventory concerns
The National Guard will start helping next week at God’s Pantry in Lexington after Gov. Andy Beshear announced Thursday that 70 National Guard members would be tasked to Kentucky food pantries.
Twenty National Guard members will help prepare food deliveries for God’s Pantry starting Monday, God’s Pantry CEO Michael Halligan said.
“Our plan is to use the guardsmen and women to help build the emergency food boxes that we have been building with volunteers over the last couple weeks,” Halligan said.
The National Guard’s work with God’s Pantry will be internal. Halligan said the crew will also help prepare products to ship for the 400 food programs that God’s Pantry supports.
God’s Pantry has been busy amidst the coronavirus pandemic. Halligan said the pantry has seen about a 35 percent increase in the need for food assistance across the 50 counties God’s Pantry serves, but in some counties, that need has swelled to as much as 80 percent.
Food assistance need in Fayette County increased 50 percent in eight days, according to the pantry’s website.
Inventory has dropped 10 percent in the last two weeks because of that, he said.
As of Friday, the pantry had enough to continue its operations as usual, Halligan said. But as the pandemic continues, that could change.
“There is certainly a risk that our inventory will decline, and we’ll need to replenish that inventory,” Halligan said.
One way the pantry is looking to restock is by ordering about $750,000 worth of food in the next three weeks.
Halligan said financial donations are beneficial. While food drives are helpful, the pandemic has made them difficult.
“Food drives are incredibly important to us, but right now, food drives are difficult to manage, because food has been touched by so many people,” he said. That could increase the risk of transmitting coronavirus.
Halligan encouraged people to make donations on the God’s Pantry website.
This story was originally published April 3, 2020 at 1:22 PM.