After initially reducing its hours of operation to limit the spread of COVID-19, the Webb Community Center has opted to close its offices to the public completely but will begin offering food baskets to those in need once a month.
The center, located at 127 Pleasant St., had switched its schedule beginning March 31 so the office was only open for two hours a day Tuesday through Thursday, but William Watkins, the center's executive director, said Monday they decided to close the doors until there is a change in the coronavirus pandemic.
"With no kids coming down here, the tutoring programs all shut down, we just had no real reason to open up," Watkins told The Sentinel-Record. "We were practically closed down as it was."
Watkins said he was talking with Jack Burris, a deacon at his church, Greater St. Paul Baptist Church, and Burris said he had noticed "the long lines" at the various feeding programs around the city and wondered if there was something the Webb Center could do to help.
He said they contacted the Project HOPE Food Bank and spoke to area churches to get donations and plan to give out food baskets to those in need the second Tuesday of every month, beginning today, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., at the Webb Center.
"Most of these churches have food banks and what have you, but with the way things are going now, we figured they could use all the help they could get," Watkins said. "We will have them here. The people can drive by, and just honk their horns, and we'll send someone out with a basket."
He said the baskets, or boxes or bags if necessary, would contain a variety of foods, mostly non-perishables.
"We're centrally located here so it seemed like a good idea," he said, noting they would have someone at the door watching as people pulled up and would carry the food out to them.
"It's for anyone that feels like they need it," he said. "We're going to see how it goes (today). We've contacted a lot of churches and they've been very receptive to the idea. We got contributions and they put the word out in the community."
Watkins said they plan to start with 75 baskets and "if we run out, we'll know we need more the next time. And maybe, if something comes up, and we can get enough donations, we'll extend it as needed."
With the center closed, he said, "This will give us something to do rather than just sit around. We want to help."
Local on 04/21/2020