Covid-19 and Us: Stay at Home, wk. 3

Donald Bentley Food Pantry

In the first week of non-essentials stay home, I opted to head to my campus office to complete pressing work projects. It was ideal, as only 3 or 4 other individuals made it to campus on a daily basis. I kept a healthy distance from the other offices, washed my hands, and Lysol'ed doorknobs and hard surfaces upon my arrival and departure. Hubby, as a high school physics teacher was already relegated to our home, as his students enjoyed an early spring break. In week two campus was shuttered and the Governor’s directive made it clear that I was to now stay at home. I learned to make daily dog-walking sojourns, work in blocks of time, exercise, and cook on a new schedule.

Over 600K people in MD live with food insecurity.

We are now in week four of the stay-at-home/ self-quarantine period and I’ve just learned something new…

Hubby’s best friend started work at a community food pantry just over thirty years ago. This vital resource is dedicated to the memory of his high school peer, Donald Bentley, who attended a prestigious private boys school in Maryland; this young man was shot and killed on the street during a visit home from university. For thirty years, my husband’s best friend spent every Saturday volunteering to feed a small cross-section the needy in Baltimore.

Quarantine orders and social distancing have made it difficult for the usual volunteers to commit to four weekly hours, so this friend put out a call on social media for healthy, asymptomatic volunteers. Last weekend we answered the call, biked ten minutes to the food pantry, and bagged up fresh produce, baked goods, and non-perishable grocery bags for the 100+ bi-weekly patrons. Per government regulations, visitors can only use this facility every-other-week.

We helped where we could and tidied up before we left. Although I’ve volunteered here in the past, this time left me with a buoyant elation that lasted me through the rest of the weekend. There is something about giving a little of oneself in a time of great need and uncertainty that adds a certain accomplishment to life.

At home, we removed our protective face masks and outerwear at the front door, and raced upstairs to shower. If good health holds up, we will continue to volunteer during this crisis.