The Care Station may be temporarily closed due to the coronavirus, but individuals and families in need will continue to be fed by this uniquely Clarksdale organization.
The Memphis Food Bank furnished the Care Station with 14-day food boxes that were delivered to members of the community who were already part of the Meals on Wheels program. As with all Care Station projects, the mission was accomplished quickly efficiently and all with volunteers.
“We were able to go yesterday and pick up the food and we’ve got our normal drivers lined up,” said Care Station board president Charlie Estess Tuesday morning. “Hopefully, before the week’s out, we’ll pass out 250 of these boxes. We may have more available as time moves forward and the Memphis Food Bank is able to afford us. We’ve got drivers here and ready to go.”
Each household will receive 25 pounds of cans.
“This is canned food for them to be able to prepare at home,” Estess said. “Right now we’re not doing any hot meals. For the time being, this will be the only day we can do to respond.”
Estess reported 15 to 20 drivers showed up Tuesday morning and it was expected to take approximately one hour for the deliveries. Members of the Clarksdale Fire Department provided much of the muscle to get boxes in cars and trucks.
“We’re using the same routes we always use,” Estess said.
At the moment, Estess said Care Station is not able to feed those who physically come to the facility to receive their meals. He added something could be done in the future to help those people.
Estess did say the Memphis Bank may be able to provide 14-day food boxes once again at the end of the two-week span. He appreciated the Memphis Food Bank.
“It’s a great blessing,” Estess said. “We’ve had our pantry stuff for the last few months where we’ve been able to do food pantries every month. We’re just blessed that the food bank is giving us this ability.”
Estess acknowledged the Care Station being shut down could “somewhat” help the budget in the long run.
“Being shut down, it’s slowed down our expenses,” he said.
The Care Station usually has a fish fry fundraiser in the spring. Even with the coronavirus, the plan is to have the annual fish fry in 2020.
“We’re not exactly sure when we’ll get to pull it off, but it’ll be sometime during the spring or summer,” Estess said.
