Food Donations For Non-Profits Returning To A Normal Level

Non-profits in Putnam County saw a fall in food donations during the pandemic, but supply has seem to return to a normal level.

Executive Director Bruce Bailey said food levels were at its lowest at the end of 2021. Over the last three months, donations have returned to a normal level.

“It impacted us very directly,” Bailey said. “We had a number of staff who were affected by COVID, and we had to curtail a lot of our activities as much as possible, which indirectly affected donations, because we were not allowing people to come inside,” Bailey said.

Putnam County Helping Hands Interim Director Vickie Love said its food supply is at a healthy level. Love said the general public seemed to increase donations earlier this years, especially from local stores.

“Publix has been a great supporter of us,” Love said. “It used to be that Second Harvest would go around and they would pick up the donations and take them to Nashville and send them back out. Just recently, we are able to go by the store and pick up those things.”

Bailey said the need for donations remains but not as critical as before. Bailey said non-perishable foods are at a healthy level where as produce is not at the same levels as it once was.

Bailey said usually, the rescue mission has fully stocked shelves with a second room with stacked non-perishable foods. During the peak of COVID, Bailey said that second room was almost empty.

Bailey said clothing supplies were not as impacted. Bailey said the mission usually always has a surplus.