The non-profit Mid-Ohio Food Collective is closing its COVID-19 pandemic era drive-thru service in Grove City on Saturday citing a lack of need and a desire to give people more options inside their facilities.
Customers lined up in their cars to pick up a pre-packaged grocery basket full of fresh produce, bread and eggs dropped off in their car trunk by volunteers. The food bank based in Franklin County works in and partners with agencies in 20 counties to help families in need.
The food bank's Vice President Brad Draper said after the drive thru off Marlane Drive closes, the 600 cars that use the drive thru everyday will now pick up food indoors at a new location on Gantz Road called the Mid-Ohio Market, which is scheduled to open on Oct. 20. Draper said this comes as the need for food banks grows.
"We serve anywhere from, you know, some days it's for 400 or 500 families a day. Some days it can be up to (600) or 800 families a day in the drive thru. But across our entire network we're seeing volumes that are 40% higher than anything that we saw during the pandemic," Draper said.
The on-site drive-thru pantry’s final distribution day will be Saturday, Oct. 14, from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
The Mid-Ohio Food Collective created the drive-thru in March 2020 at the start of the pandemic as an emergency response to the public health emergency. Draper said now that the world is three years out from the start of the pandemic, it wants to start transitioning back to having its clients shop indoors.
Draper said one of the downsides the agency discovered with the drive-thru is that everybody gets the same box of food, despite that food possibly not being culturally relevant, meeting dietary restrictions or not being food the family enjoys. He said in a shopping model, people can come inside and select their own food.
"We think we can serve our customers in a more dignified way. We have a phenomenal network of partners across central and eastern Ohio who provide amazing service and we think that folks can be better served at a location closer to home," Draper said.
Draper didn't rule out the agency using a drive-thru model again in the future if the need calls for one during a natural disaster or another global pandemic.
The agency also urges its customers to use a tracking tool called FreshTrak.com on its website to find the closest food bank. Draper said the organization has been advertising the website in hopes that it helps alert people who use the drive-thru to a closer food bank.
