Meridian charities see surge in demand during COVID-19 crisis

Published 1:15 pm Friday, May 1, 2020

David Schultz stands in the pantry at The Wesley House Community Center in Meridian, looking at a row of empty shelves.

Nearby sits stacks of donations, one from the community and the other from The Mississippi Food Network. 

The Wesley House is used to serving Meridian’s neediest citizens, but with the COVID-19 pandemic, the demand for food has surged.

“We’ve always helped that segment (of the population),” said Schultz, the center’s executive director. “But there’s an increased need.”

Wesley House and other charities in East Mississippi are seeing an increasing number of clients while they adapt to how they serve the community during the crisis. The demand is putting a strain on these organizations while they continue to provide basic essentials such as food. 

Not only is Wesley House seeing more clients, the agency is serving people they’ve never seen before, including families and people who’ve been laid off, Schultz said.

“What the virus has done is create a need among working individuals or semi-working individuals,” he said. 

Schultz said there’s also been an increase in elderly clients, who are using Wesley House’s drive-thru food distribution program instead of shopping at local stores. 

“It’s dangerous to go to the store,” he said. “It’s much safer for them to drive by and get a food bag than to go to the store.”

Between March 2019 and April 2019, the agency distributed 747 food bags. During the same months this year, the organization distributed more than 2,000 food bags, Schultz said.  

The demand was so high that the agency closed for a few weeks in April, Schultz said. The closure allowed staff to restock, find volunteers, and prepare for the end of the month, when the need for food was expected to rise.  

“I wanted to be open the end of the month because I knew more folks would need it, and they did,” Schultz said.

With The Mississippi Food Network making deliveries only once a month, Schultz has to make do until he can drive to Jackson to pick up boxes of food. 

Wesley House also received a $7,000 grant from The Atmos Energy/Robert W. Best Charitable Giving Fund. 

‘This is going to be a long process’

The Salvation Army’s Meridian office, which has remained open with a small staff, is also seeing more clients, said Lt. Tamara Robb.

On one recent evening, the number of to-go dinners served jumped from 25 to 68 meals.  

More Information

Wesley House: Family food bags are distributed from 1-4 p.m. only on Wednesdays The bags are available the drive-thru and walk up. Travelers’ bags will also be available to pick up during the same time on Wednesday.

L.O.V.E.’S Kitchen: The agency offers a daily lunch from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at a table outside so clients can sit apart.

The Salvation Army serves to-go dinners from 5:30-6:30 p.m. Pastry boxes are distributed from 9-9:30 a.m. on Wednesdays and drive-thru for non-perishable food items is 9-11 a.m. on Mondays.

Lauderdale County School District Grab & Go Meal Delivery

The East Mississippi HUB for Volunteers and Nonprofits is providing volunteers from local churches to deliver meals to students in the Lauderdale County School District. The district has been offering to-go meals at its schools, but in rural areas of the county, some families face barriers in traveling to the distribution sites. Some of the barriers include:

• Lack of transportation, unreliable transportation, or lack of money for gas

• Parents are sick or disabled, or their work schedules do not permit on-site pickup. Meal deliveries will begin on Monday, May 4 and will end on May 22.

“That’s probably quadrupled from what we had this time last year,” she said.

From March 30 to April 24, The Salvation Army served 1,417 meals, with 141 families picking up perishable food at the drive-thru, Robb said. The agency also handed out 247 face masks.

Providing water to clients is another challenge: Robb said the agency can go through half a case a night. Purchasing that much water at a local store can be difficult, as some businesses are restricting the number of items people can by at a time.  

Local beverage distributor Magnolia Beverage Company heard about the need and donated 20 cases of water. The organization has also been getting support from the United Way, the Riley Foundation and the Mississippi Food Network, Robb said.

As with the Wesley House, the Salvation Army isn’t just seeing the homeless population.

“This is going to be a long process,” Robb said. “People have been out of work and we know they are going to need this. I’ve had people call me in tears, and say they’ve never had to do this before. I just reassure them that it’s going to be okay, and that’s what we are here for.”

‘We never run out food because of this community’ 

Fannie Johnson, executive director of L.O.V.E.’s Kitchen, said she’s also seeing unfamiliar faces, attributing the increase to people losing their jobs or having their work hours cut.

But, Johnson says, she doesn’t ask questions, she just serves.

The agency has surplus food from a school food drive last fall, which it’s sharing with other organizations, she said.

“We were blessed with having food and being able to share it with other agencies, food banks, and churches,” she said. “We will continue to do that.”

Local businesses are also helping, Johnson said. A bank donated money and a bakery dropped off loaves of bread.

“We never run out food because of this community,” Johnson said. 

‘It helps out a lot’

The generosity of the charities hasn’t gone unnoticed. 

“It helps out a lot because I don’t have a source of income,” said Marcy Verus, who is homeless and often stops at the Wesley House if she can’t make it to the Salvation Army or L.O.V.E.’s Kitchen for a meal. 

Melissa Grando, who’s been coming to the Wesley House since 2007, said the food bags fill a need in the community. 

Once the COVID-19 crisis is over, she plans to show her appreciation to the organization.  

“I will write them a thank you card and give it to them,” she said.