Nourish NC opens up drive-thru location for food distribution

WILMINGTON, N.C. (WECT) - Even during trying times, the volunteers at Nourish NC continue their mission to serve the Cape Fear community.

Tuesday, folks lined up to put together meal boxes for families in need as part of its Backpack Program. The need is greater now with schools shut down across the area. Those schools are the sole provider of meals for a portion of our population.

Right now, there are 1300 children in the backpack program and parents can pick meals up at the Nourish NC drive-thru Market Street location. The new drive-thru option opened up Tuesday.

“As long as we can keep supplies stocked we will be here for any kid in our community who needs it,” says Nourish NC Executive Director, Steve McCrossan. “We have been preparing for this. We’ve been purchasing food in advance and we will continue to purchase food through our partners. We are telling families, as long as we can keep being here for them, we will do that."

Boxes include non-perishable foods, fresh fruits and vegetables and essentials, including meat and bread. Nourish NC also picked up hot meals from Pine Valley Market Tuesday to distribute to homes in the Creekwood community. Also this morning, the Latino Alliance received 150 boxes of food to be delivered right to family homes.

Even with uncertain times, workers say they’ve been preparing for this crisis.

“For this box distribution, it’s going to last a week and because of the unique situation we are in with schools being closed, we’re not 100% sure," Scott Wright, Nourish NC Warehouse Manager, said. "But we’re prepared and have been prepared for weeks for it, so there’s going to be no surprises on our end we know what we need to do and we’re going to do it.”

Nourish NC relies on community support through volunteers and monetary donations. You can contribute both your time and treasure by visiting their website at https://nourishnc.org/.

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