As a lineup formed at The Sharing Place Food Centre on Wednesday, staff and volunteers became uneasy.
The Dufferin Street facility opened its doors for one day only after recently closing them to allow officials to come up with a plan to assist clients during the COVID-19 pandemic.
More than 50 people showed up Wednesday, and there were about 30 lined up at one point, said executive director Chris Peacock.
“Even with a line of 10, we felt that, regardless of how much we were increasing the efficiency of distribution, we should not have a lineup. We’ve got to keep safety top of mind,” he said. “When you’re trying to manage crowds, it can be hard to keep them appropriately socially distanced.”
That’s when The Sharing Place decided to move to delivery.
“We felt the logistics to go to delivery services was not too daunting,” Peacock said. “We’re going to go with it for a while and see how it goes.”
The organization will start taking food orders over the phone on Monday, from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. It plans to do the same from Tuesday to Thursday, with orders being delivered a day after they are placed. The Sharing Place’s phone system has been upgraded to handle what will be an unusually high call volume.
Peacock said he and his team will evaluate the delivery process to see how it worked out and will make changes as necessary.
“The entire roll-out isn’t defined yet,” he said, noting officials have to be ready to change course at a moment’s notice due to the rapidly changing nature of the virus. “Something new seems to come around the corner each day.”
Updates will be posted to the organization’s website.
Financial donations are being encouraged. They can be made online here.
