KNOX COUNTY — The Knox County Hot Meals program that feeds the homeless and people within the community who need the free meals that the program provides has seen a steady decline in both people and families who are attending as well as volunteers who are necessary for helping out with the program and keeping it afloat.
“The number of people that are going to the hot meals program locations has gone down significantly,” said Rev. Rachel Harrison at the St. Paul Episcopal Church in Mount Vernon. “The number can fluctuate between 20 to 50 people, which is a lot less than the number of people that typically come to an individual hot meal location.”
“The lifeblood of the volunteer staff is recent retirees.” said Harrison.
Some of the issues with having recent retirees as staff members for the Hot Meals program are that they are more susceptible to getting the COVID-19 virus because they are older and most likely have more compromised immune systems. They are also more prone to exhaustion and the physical rigors of serving meals for extended periods at such an advanced age.
As for the people in the community who benefit from the hot meals program, their numbers in attendance are most likely dwindling because of a fear of the COVID-19 pandemic and a reluctance to go outside due to them being cautious about the virus.
Another reason for the lack of attendance by people who benefit directly from the food that is being served is the fact that the sense of community is gone due to the COVID-19 health restrictions and since fewer people are attending the meals. People go to the hot meals program to feel like they are a part of a community of people, not only just to get the sustenance that they need to make it through the day.
Kim Bradley, the hot meals coordinator for First Church of the Nazarene in Mount Vernon, has also noticed a fluctuation of people who have attended the program at her church location.
“COVID-19 has changed who comes to the hot meals program,” said Bradley. “We had over 80 people last week, but then the number went down to over 55 people yesterday.”
The fluctuation has been attributed to the same reasons that people weren’t attending the St. Paul Episcopal Church location. The fellowship is no longer experienced to its fullest extent at the event where patrons have to stay a certain amount of space (6 feet) away from each other.
“People come to the hot meals program for the community and fellowship,” said Bradley.
Bradley has come up with an effective strategy to keep her small volunteer staff from being overwhelmed by staff shortages due to the COVID-19 crisis.
“We have a staff of 3 to 4 volunteers and we make it easier for them to be able to volunteer by making the meals for the program be pre-packaged instead of home-cooked meals,” said Bradley. “This makes the process of operating the program much easier.”