Steven and Gin Pack with the Salivation Army in Centralia talk about the system in place to keep contact low between volunteers and food box recipients.
A food box recipient stops her car as Salvation Army volunteers load the food.
Fresh fruit and other food wait to be distributed by Salvation Army volunteers to those in need on Friday morning.
Gin Pack, Lieutenant with the Salvation Army in Centralia, watches over the distribution process at the Centralia Outlets on Friday morning.
The Salvation Army in Centralia was able to assist 567 families during Friday’s food distribution at the Centralia Factory Outlets, which was conducted in a drive-through style where families could come to pick up boxes of non-perishable foods as well as fresh fruits and hard-boiled eggs.
One box of food was intended to feed a family of four for two to three days. There were about 50 volunteers present to assist with all aspects of the food distribution from the unloading of trucks to the loading of the food into each recipient’s vehicle. Some volunteers were from local churches and others were community members that usually volunteer at the Salvation Army food bank and wanted to help out with the food distribution.
“Overall (the food distribution) is going to be a good litmus test of what the needs are in Lewis County,” said Lieutenant Gin Pack, with the Salvation Army in Centralia, during the first hour of the distribution.
The Salvation Army’s Northwest Divisional Headquarters distributed food boxes throughout Washington state in Tacoma, Spokane, Yakima, Seattle, Vancouver, and Centralia for an estimated total of 4,500 boxes, according to the Salvation Army website.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints funded 500 food boxes and Pack said that the Salvation Army had plenty of extras from their headquarters. The Salvation Army was also giving out $20 Safeway gift cards with the food boxes.
Karen Davis, Centralia resident and one of the volunteers with the Salvation Army, said she has been volunteering for two and a half years.
“I’m a retired state employee so this gives me something to do to help somebody else. I’m happy to help,” said Davis.
The Centralia Outlets, located at 1330 Lum Road, was the ideal location for the distribution because of the large, empty parking lot that was not being used since retail stores are closed due to COVID-19, Pack said.
Thirty minutes into the distribution, Pack estimated that about 70 cars had come through to pick up food. The food that was distributed to community members included cereal, canned goods, pasta, rice, shelf-stable protein, watermelon, oranges, onions, and hard-boiled eggs.
A.J. Forbes, a Salvation Army employee, was on-site to help with the food distribution and was hired at the start of the COVID-19 outbreak and said he is hoping to remain an employee after the impact of the virus subsides. Pack said that demand for employees has increased for the Salvation Army since the COVID-19 outbreak.
“… (W)e anticipate that there is going to be an extra need going forward because once the moratorium on evictions is lifted. We anticipate that people are going to need that assistance,” Pack said.
