Thanks to core volunteers, new volunteers, increased financial supports, and wonderful partnerships, Bread For All Food Pantry continues to distribute food to neighbors in need during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Each Monday afternoon beginning at 5:00 p.m., BFA provides individuals and families with needed provisions of canned goods, bread, fresh vegetables and fruit, frozen meat, and (when available) dairy products.

The adjusted outdoor distribution, initiated in late March, will continue through the hot summer months. The large distribution numbers from April and early May – upwards of 130 neighbors served – have now flattened to an average of 65. We attribute this to at least three factors: 1) the wonderful work of our lead partner, Central Texas Food Bank, which adjusted their own distribution modes to consequently serve more persons than ever before, 2) the easing of feelings of panic on behalf of recipients, and, 3) the reopening of other food pantries that had temporarily closed during the onset of the pandemic.

Bread For All was one of the few pantries (along with its partner pantry at Abiding Love Lutheran, and ACL congregation Gethsemane Lutheran’s pantry) that made adjustments and stayed open as coronavirus became a household word. Good lessons have been learned: all organizations – churches, schools, businesses, pantries, banks – have to adjust to the “new normal” by figuring out how to carry out their ongoing mission in new ways. Bread For All has done this with its new outdoor distribution, supported by volunteers who bag and box food inside the Fellowship Hall (and original sanctuary) of our host, Faith Presbyterian, and then send it out a side door where neighbors wait with outdoor BFA volunteers who help neighbors to their cars or nearby bus stops. Thanks be to God who blesses the provisions that we distribute so that our neighbors – individuals and families – might be sustained and strengthened, especially during this pandemic.

If you’ve not volunteered at BFA before, we welcome you to do so. Volunteer shifts start at 1:00 p.m. and continue to BFA’s close at 7:00 p.m. Contact me, Pastor Tim Anderson, and we will work you into a socially-distanced spot in our rotation!