Food bank home deliveries available for Whatcom residents at risk of coronavirus
Food bank home deliveries are now available for Whatcom County residents who can’t afford to buy groceries and are unable to access food bank pickup locations, according to a press release from Whatcom Unified Command, the multi-governmental agency directing local efforts to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.
The program, which is for both individuals and families, is a partnership between unified command, Opportunity Council and The Volunteer Center of Whatcom County, the Tuesday, April 7, release states.
To qualify for the home delivery program, individuals and households must be unable to access food bank pickup sites due to a lack of transportation or be in a high-risk category for the new coronavirus as defined by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Those high-risk categories include:
▪ People age 65 or older.
▪ People who live in a nursing home or long-term care facility.
▪ People who are pregnant. They should be monitored as they can be at increased risk for a severe viral illness
▪ People with high-risk conditions, such as chronic lung disease or moderate to severe asthma, serious heart conditions; severe obesity (a body mass index of greater than 40), or underlying medical conditions like diabetes, renal failure or liver disease at any age. Also, weakened immune system due to a variety of conditions such as cancer treatment, smoking, bone marrow or organ transplantation, immune deficiencies, poorly controlled HIV or AIDS and prolonged use of corticosteroids or other immune weakening medications.
To apply for the food bank home delivery program, people can fill out an online form or call 360-255-0465. Online requests must be completed by 12 p.m. Wednesdays in order to be processed for a Friday delivery, the release states.
Requests made after noon on Wednesday will be delivered on Friday of the following week, according to the release.
Once someone signs up, food boxes will be delivered to them until the response to the new coronavirus has ended, or until the person contacts the program to cancel the food box deliveries, according to information provided on unified command’s website. People do not need to fill out a form each week in order to get a food box delivered.
The food box delivery program is not intended to replace grocery store purchases for those who can afford to buy groceries, the release states. For individuals or families who can buy groceries but are concerned about visiting grocery stores in person due to high health risks are encouraged to contact local grocery stores to ask about delivery or pick up options, or reach out to friends, families or neighbors about how to get support, the release states.
“Families do not have equal access to food resources in our community. This puts some people at higher risk of getting sick. This program aims to support individuals and families who need it during this time,” the release states.
More information about various food bank resources across Whatcom County can be found online at the Whatcom Asset Building Coalition’s website, or by calling the Whatcom County free food hotline at 360-788-7328.
This story was originally published April 8, 2020 at 10:43 AM.
