Alpine Community Center has temporarily closed all of its facilities due to the COVID-19 pandemic, from the banquet halls where the Queen Bee brunch is held each spring to the meeting room where the Alpine Community Planning Group typically meets each month to the grassy ballfields outside where kids can usually be found playing this time of year.
However, according to Director of Operations Shane Greer, two programs that remain up and running at the center are the food pantry and the senior lunch giveaway, with no plans to stop providing food through either service.
“It’s crazy times but we’re trying to adjust and help the community. Like everywhere else, it is a struggle. We shut down for a week and when I came back in to check on things we had received calls about our food pantry so we decided to keep both programs set up, just with different guidelines to keep things safe,” Greer said.
He described the food pantry as a place that residents can call on when there isn’t enough at home, consisting primarily of canned goods, pasta and other shelf sturdy items.
“The food pantry is here for the community on those in between days, especially for people who live paycheck to paycheck and can’t always afford groceries. People have always been grateful and appreciative but now they’re even more so when we’re able to help them get by. You really see the strain because they were already in a tough economic situation prior to COVID. ” Greer said.
Currently, food from the pantry is only available for pickup by appointment. Greer said while that policy was put in place to maintain social distancing efforts, the advance notice has also proven helpful as it provides time for community center staff to pair together items from which recipients can construct whole meals. He also said the community center might take some of the new practices forced into place through social distancing and build on them so more thoughtfully chosen items can continue to be grouped together for easy pickups after the COVID-19 pandemic has passed.
Prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, Senior Lunches were held at the community center every Thursday. The director said the real loss of having those lunches temporarily canceled isn’t lack of food for area senior citizens, but the socialization that came along with the weekly outing.
“Senior lunch, before COVID-19, was a program for seniors who live in semi-isolation. They would come in from 11-12 for bingo or trivia, followed by lunch and it was so great for them” Greer said.
He said the community center is currently closed to public entry but staff is offering frozen lunches which senior citizens can pick up each week in lieu of in-person lunches. Greer said voluntary contributions to help cover the cost of lunch were taken anonymously through a donation box prior to the closure but deliberately kept discrete in an effort to welcome local seniors regardless of whether they could afford to make a donation. He anticipates a return to the same approach once social distancing is lifted.
“I think with the senior lunch we’ll try to get it back to where it was prior to everything because it was the highlight of many seniors’ week, like the bingo with prizes so that will hopefully go back to normal,” Greer said.
Although socializing is not an option at this point, senior meals are still being picked up to go. Last week alone, the center gave out 63 meals, up from 61 the week before, according to the director.
Greer credits center Board President Louise Phipps with keeping both programs functional while the facility is temporarily closed, as well as area volunteer but has noticed options from the pantry are growing slim.
“We do have some funds available but it is getting more bare. For safety reasons, we’re not accepting food donations right now but we have a paypal link on our website where people can donate for food pantry purchase items,” Greer said.
He also said he suspects that after social distancing ends, people are going to be left with a lot of food they purchased that can’t be returned.
“After all of this our food pantry will gladly take those shelf stable items that haven’t expired but we’re not there yet.”
For more information on either the food pantry or the senior lunch program, staff at the community center can be reached at (619) 445-7330.
