GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) – Paul’s Pantry in Green Bay is seeing a lot of new faces as the coronavirus pandemic continues.
Paul’s Pantry provides food for people in the community who may not otherwise be able to afford to feed their families. Executive Director Craig Robbins says they’re seeing more traffic than usual.
“We’ve got a lot of new households – lot of new households. February we had 85, which is about normal. March we were up to 156. April, as of today, 301,” Robbins tells WTAQ News, “We still have over 125 households coming in for food every day, five days a week right now.”
Many of those households include newly unemployed individuals who are in need of assistance putting food on the table. Paul’s Pantry is doing curbside pickup and delivery as well.
“They’re up to about 50 deliveries a day. We’re trying to keep people home if at all possible,” Robbins says.
While the numbers of families coming in keeps going up – the pantry has prepared for the worst.
“We’ve had a plan in places for years in case of a recession or another 9/11 type thing. So this pandemic sure fits the bill,” Robbins says, “We’re trying to build up our inventory ahead of Safer at Home being lifted and things starting to try and return to normal.”
Robbins predicts a tremendous number of layoffs, even after the order is lifted – and especially in the service and restaurant industry.
“I think we’re going to be very, very busy in the coming months and the supply chain is totally broken. On the food service side, it’s all but non-existent right now,” Robbins says, “Retail food supply is being stressed with the meat plant closures.”
Other than the meat shortages – Robbins says it has been hard to find any kind of protein. While peanut butter prices haven’t been impacted much, they are unable to buy large quantities.
Another concern for Paul’s Pantry is their own workforce. The mostly volunteer-operated facility is seeing a large dip in numbers due to concerns over health, as many volunteers could be categorized as seniors. Robbins says that puts stress on staff, as the usual 27 daily volunteers has dropped down to about 10.
Anyone interested in donating or volunteering – or who would like to register with Paul’s Pantry can find them online.
