Marin food pantries face demand surge in pandemic
April 20, 2020
Marin IJ News Article by: Richard Halstead
The number of people turning to food pantries in San Rafael and Novato has doubled, and community organizations say they’re having a hard time distributing the food while maintaining social distancing.
Lucia Martel-Dow, Canal Alliance’s director of immigration and social services, said the number of people getting food from at the organizations Tuesday food pantry has doubled from 250 to 500, and they sometimes run out of food. The organization is also delivering food to another 90 households.
“I don’t think we can provide food to more people than that due to the logistical challenges,” Martel-Dow said.
Martel-Dow said while all the food now has to be packed in advance, Canal Alliance has lost many of its volunteers because they are at high risk due to their age. Marin County employees have been pitching in to fill the gap. Read rest of this article on Marin IJ.
