Feeding the Valley closes for cleaning due to positive coronavirus tests
The coronavirus pandemic temporarily has shut down a Columbus organization on the front line of helping area residents get through this outbreak.
Feeding the Valley is closed this week to thoroughly clean and sanitize its distribution center after at least three people connected to the food bank tested positive for COVID-19.
Frank Sheppard, president and CEO of Feeding the Valley, told the Ledger-Enquirer in a phone interview Wednesday that one of its six volunteers tested positive for the deadly virus over the weekend and more than one of its 37 staff members tested positive Tuesday.
He expects the food bank to reopen Monday.
Those who need food assistance while Feeding the Valley is closed can find the nearest partner agency by typing in their zip code on the organization’s website or call the center at 706-561-4755.
Sheppard declined to specify the number of staff members who tested positive, but said it’s a “relatively small number” and more than one.
“We provided testing for all of our employees on Tuesday,” he said. “… This was one of those one-day turnaround tests, which sometimes are known to show false positives. But those employees were immediately quarantined, sent home. They will go and get a second, full test at another facility to confirm those positives, and we will see where they stand.”
Feeding the Valley is a nonprofit organization that distributes more than 13 million pounds of food per year to 17 west-central Georgia counties as well as Russell County in Alabama.
Although the infected volunteer was showing symptoms, none of the staff members are, Sheppard said. The number of employees who are quarantining wasn’t available.
“We’re still in the process of determining who has had close contact with the individuals that are infected,” he said.
The fleet of delivery vehicles and the food packaging are being cleaned and sanitized in addition to the building, Sheppard said.
“The case lots are already plastic-wrapped,” he said, “so we have that added layer of protection, but we want to be overly cautious.”
Being closed this week means two mobile pantries and three appointments for organizations to pick up food have been rescheduled, Sheppard said.
“No one will miss any distributions,” he said. “They may just be delayed a few days.”
The mobile pantries typically provide about 100 families 60 pounds of food intended as a monthly supplement to their other resources, Sheppard said.
Since March 17, Feeding the Valley has forbidden anyone from the 365 partner agencies to shop for food in the building, Sheppard said. Instead, they pick up online orders at the loading dock.
Before the pandemic, the number of volunteers at Feeding the Valley was 25-30 per day, Sheppard said. The crew was cut to six volunteers in March to limit the risk of infection, he said, but that precaution still wasn’t enough to stop the virus from infecting the food bank’s operation.
“It certainly is deeply concerning,” he said. “The welfare of our employees, our partner agencies and the recipients of our food is of utmost importance. We are out there every day. We are exposed in the community. Our employees are very safe, wearing PPE (personal protective equipment), sanitizing the facility and the fleet on a regular basis, so we’ve been trying to be as careful as possible, but it’s just a testament to how strong this virus is and what a strong grip it has on our country.”
This story was originally published July 8, 2020 at 11:23 AM.
