Experts warn lines at food banks and unemployment offices put people at risk for coronavirus

Long lines continued to form outside food banks and unemployment offices across the United States over the weekend as the coronavirus pandemic takes a heavy toll on families, leaving many unsure of when their next paycheck will come.    

Health experts have warned that more needs to be done to protect people seeking aid as the large crowds dramatically raise the risk of contracting the same virus that caused the widespread economic pain. 

‘It’s worrisome,’ Carl Bergstrom, a biologist at the University of Washington who studies pandemics, told the New York Times. ‘It’s setting up unnecessary opportunities for transmission.’

Bergstrom and others are calling for businesses to be more vigilant in their efforts to spread people out when they’re forced to wait in such extensive queues.

They’re also urging the government provide more substantial support to Americans so they’re less likely to end up at food banks and unemployment offices in the first place.   

Nearly 17 million Americans have filed for unemployment in the past week, pushing the jobless rate to it’s highest point since 1940 at 14.7 percent. 

The IRS began depositing the first wave of $1,200 stimulus checks this weekend, but for many struggling families that money will not be nearly enough to keep food on the table as the pandemic persists.  

Relief organizations scrambling to keep up with unprecedented demand for food and other basic essentials as thousands of people pass through emergency distribution sites in dozens of cities.    

Health experts have warned that more needs to be done to protect people seeking aid at food banks and unemployment offices across the country as the large crowds dramatically raise the risk of contracting COVID-19. Pictured: People line up outside an unemployment office in Hialeah, Florida

Long lines continued to form outside food banks and unemployment offices in dozens of cities over the weekend as the coronavirus pandemic takes a heavy toll on families, leaving many unsure of when their next paycheck will come. Pictured: Hundreds of people lined up to receive Easter lunch at the Bowery Mission in New York City on Sunday

Boxes of food are distributed by the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank at a drive-thru distribution event on Friday 

Volunteers dressed in festive Easter attire at a food bank event in Santa Ana, California, on Saturday

Volunteers from local churches handed out meals to more than 400 homeless people in downtown Atlanta over the weekend

Eric Cooper, president and CEO of the San Antonio Food Bank (SAFB), described how the coronavirus crisis has affected his city in an interview with the TODAY Show on Monday morning. 

Last Thursday, some 10,000 families lined up in their cars for hours at a massive SAFB distribution event called Mega Giveaway. Cooper said it was the worst level of demand he’s seen in 25 years with the food bank. 

‘We were blown away and overwhelmed at the need in the community because of COVID-19,’ Cooper said. 

Eric Cooper, president and CEO of the San Antonio Food Bank, described how the coronavirus crisis has affected his city in an interview with the TODAY Show on Monday

‘We typically feed about 60,000 a week. The need has risen to 120,000 people a week, and we are just working as hard as we can to meet that need.’ 

Cooper was on the ground helping run the the event, which will be held on a weekly basis as long as the demand continues. 

He said the people queuing in their cars included hospitality workers, Uber drivers and others whose place of employment has shut down because of the pandemic – many of whom have never needed to turn to food banks before.

‘Their last paycheck ran out, and there’s just nowhere else to go,’ he said. ‘They know the food bank maybe from volunteering but they have never had to ask for help.

‘This is the case with food banks across the country. We’re one of 200 food banks part of the Feeding America food bank network. 

‘All of my peers in other cities are struggling to have enough food to meet the needs of that line. It’s been overwhelming.’ 

Some 10,000 families lined up in their cars for hours at Traders Village in San Antonio for a food distribution event Thursday

People are seen standing by their cars as they waited in line for hours to get their hands on food and other essentials. SAFB President Eric Cooper said attendees showed ‘such immense gratitude’ as they were given enough groceries to fill two carts

A masked and gloved volunteer is seen carrying a box of food to a waiting car at the Mega Giveaway on Thursday

Cooper said the people in the cars showed ‘such immense gratitude’ as they received enough groceries to fill about two carts, intended to last through the end of the month.  

‘It’s so humble. I was loading boxes of food into the back of a minivan. As I did that, three little heads popped up along the back seat, children that were excited to get food with their mom. Look, we’ve got milk,’ he said.  

‘All of the families so grateful. Children put little heart signs on the glass saying thank you. We were so worried because they had been out there so long, but moms were saying: “No, we brought snacks. We knew it would be a long wait.” People lined up hours and hours before the distribution to get ready.’ 

Asked if SAFB has enough food, volunteers and money to keep the Mega Giveaway efforts going, Cooper said: ‘We really need all three. We’re struggling to keep up. Our inventories are going fast. 

‘The best help is to make a financial contribution, but volunteers have really been amazing. We are in need of more volunteers. Knowing they are working on the front lines, putting themselves at risk has been humbling to see. 

‘I would challenge anyone watching to reach out to their local food bank, to volunteer, make a monetary contribution. We hope that we’re going to have enough food and to meet this need. It’s really going to be a need of a public-private partnership. We hope that the federal government and state governments lean in on this crisis.’ 

The Justice for All Coalition and several churches joined forces to distribute meals and blankets to the homeless in downtown Atlanta’s Hunt Park – serving hundreds of people over Friday, Saturday and Sunday

Pastor John Robinson (pictured) of Upcoming Ministries in Winston, Georgia, was among the volunteers at Hunt Park. He told DailyMail.com that personal donations from members of his congregation helped feed more than 400 people before they ran out of food on Sunday. They’re hoping to get back up and running by Tuesday after storms roll through the city.

Robinson said: ‘God laid it on my heart to come downtown and feed people. So, I am going to try and do the best that I can with what I have and with the friends that I have to get these people fed. We are going to be doing this for as long as we can’

Lines similar to those seen in San Antonio have cropped up in cities around the country as millions stocked up on essentials for the weeks ahead. 

In Georgia, local charities in and around Atlanta spent the weekend handing out meals to people in need. 

The Justice for All Coalition and several churches joined forces to distribute meals and blankets to the homeless in downtown Atlanta’s Hunt Park – serving hundreds of people over Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  

Pastor John Robinson of Upcoming Ministries in Winston, Georgia, was among the volunteers at the park. 

He told DailyMail.com that personal donations from members of his congregation helped feed more than 400 people before they ran out of food on Sunday. They’re hoping to get back up and running by Tuesday after storms roll through the city. 

‘We are just trying to feed as many people as we can,’ Robinson said. ‘It may not be a whole lot but at least some will have something in their belly. That’s all we are trying to do in downtown Atlanta. 

‘God laid it on my heart to come downtown and feed people. So, I am going to try and do the best that I can with what I have and with the friends that I have to get these people fed. We are going to be doing this for as long as we can.’  

Asked if he has ever seen such intense need in Atlanta, Robinson said: ‘I have seen homeless people in Atlanta before but because of this coronavirus, lots of people have lost their jobs, they don’t have places to go and are out of work and you have a lot of homeless people in Atlanta. They don’t have anywhere to go. Some have no means to get food.’  

Hundreds of cars wait in line to collect food donations from the San Francisco-Marin Food Bank in San Rafael, California

In Miramar, Florida, the line of cars outside a giveaway by Feeding South Florida extended for five miles on Saturday

Volunteers are seen loading groceries into a car during the distribution event at the Miramar Amphitheater on Saturday

A volunteer shows off her masks and gloves as she risks her own health to feed struggling families in South Florida

Volunteers deliver packages of fresh vegetables, sandwiches and Easter Baskets to vehicles during a drive through pantry put on by Culture Aid NOLA in New Orleans, Louisiana on Sunday

In Pennsylvania, the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank held a drive-thru distribution event with enough supplies for up to 1,300 families on Friday. 

A mile-long line of cars turned out at the event to receive two boxes of food each, enough to make about 40 meals.  

At the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank’s giveaway on Friday, hundreds of cars had lined up by 8am outside The Forum in Inglewood, California. The organization said it expected to serve as many as 5,000 families in a single day.  

Also in Los Angeles on Friday, workers at LAX airport were invited to a specially-organized food bank, DailyMail.com reported exclusively. 

At least 5,000 cars were expected at the event, according to LA Food Bank President and CEO Michael Flood, all of them people who depended on the airport to make a living, ranging from taxi drivers to air crews, as passenger numbers have dropped dramatically due to stay at home precautions.   

In Anaheim, California, Second Harvest Food Bank of Orange County hosted a drive-thru food distribution event on Saturday which saw volunteers dole out enough food for up to 7,000 families in the span of three hours. 

Each car in the line was given a bag of potatoes, onions, shelf-stable grocery items and King’s Hawaiian Bread, KTLA reported. 

In Honolulu, Hawaii, a two-mile-long line of 700 cars waited for hours outside the Salvation Army’s drive-thru emergency food distribution center on Saturday, Hawaii News Now reported.  

In Miramar, Florida, the line of cars outside a giveaway by Feeding South Florida and Farm Share Food Distribution extended for five miles.  

Volunteers unloaded two tractor-trailers with a total of 48 pallets of produce that included eggs, fruits, vegetables, rice and other basics, placing them into bags with enough food to feed a family for a week.  

Miramar Mayor Wayne Messam was among dozens of masked and gloved volunteers running the event. 

‘You can see how widespread this situation is,’ Messam told the Sun Sentinel. ‘You see people who are clearly working class individuals … and people you would never think to see coming through these lines, which just shows the gravity of what COVID-19 has had on our economy.’ 

Long lines formed outside the Bowery Mission in Manhattan on Sunday as people waited to receive Easter lunch

Staff members Chad Eastridge (center left) Jake Mincy (center right) and Cherie Jones (right) load boxes of food donations into carts of those in need at the Covenant Mercy Mission food pantry on Saturday in New York City

Volunteers at a Staten Island food pantry unload boxes of food on Saturday

  

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk