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You are here: Home / FEATURED POSTS / Health Department, Food Bank Distribute Free Food Boxes at the Alstom COVID-19 Test Site

Health Department, Food Bank Distribute Free Food Boxes at the Alstom COVID-19 Test Site

September 8, 2020 By Dick Cook and Contributed Article 0 Comments

The Hamilton County Health Department and the Chattanooga Area Food Bank have partnered to distribute food boxes at the Health Department’s Alstom Plant COVID-19 test site to anyone who is being tested and may be facing hunger.

The initiative will meet the need of persons who are unable to go to out for supplies because they need to isolate or quarantine at home following a test, while addressing food insecurity, or limited or uncertain access to adequate food, due to the COVID pandemic.

“We appreciate the Food Bank for making this service possible through our test site,” said Health Department Administrator Becky Barnes. “We know this pandemic has been difficult on our residents in many ways.”

The food boxes will be distributed on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 8:00AM to 11:30AM, while supplies last. The Alstom test site is open from 7:00AM to 11:30, seven days a week.

According to a recent study by Feeding America, the nation’s largest hunger-relief organization, of which the local Food Bank is a member, one in five people overall and more than one in four children could face hunger as a result of the COVID pandemic’s economic impact.The report also identifies those at highest risk of COVID illness- seniors, those with chronic illnesses, and minority populations- may be the most affected by the pandemic’s economic impact and associated food insecurity.

“When people are screened for COVID-19, many have no choice but to stay at home for an extended period, which often means they aren’t able to go to work and earn money they would use to pay for rent, utilities and food,” said Chattanooga Area Food Bank Director of Operations Chris Payne. “No one should have to choose between their health, having somewhere to live or being able to eat. While people wait on results or isolate while they are sick, these boxes provide access to nutritious food no matter how uncertain their financial situation may be.”

The free food boxes at the test site are intended for people who participate in the COVID testing process. However, anyone in need of food can visit chattfoodbank.org/hungry to find help close to where they live. Hamilton County residents may dial 211 or text their zip code to 898-211 to be connected with a voucher for an emergency food box.

For more information about COVID-19, please call the hotline at (423) 209-8383.

Filed Under: FEATURED POSTS, News

About Dick Cook

Dick Cook has lived in East Ridge since the Kennedy Administration when his parents bought a house on Marietta Street. Dick graduated from ERHS in 1976 before going on to the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga where he studied Political Science. Dick worked for the Chattanooga Free-Press and the Chattanooga Times Free Press for 22 years. Free-Press Sports Editor Roy Exum plucked him out of production in 1989 and gave him a job as a sports reporter. Dick covered everything from prep sports to the whitewater events on the Ocoee River for the 1996 Olympics. When Chattanooga's two paper's merged, he became the Crime Reporter covering both the Chattanooga Police and Fire Departments. He was among reporters who were honored by the Associated Press for the TFP's coverage of the 2002 fog-shrouded crash on I-75 in Catoosa County, Dick and his wife, Cathy, live on Marlboro Avenue where they are seen frequently chasing around their three grandsons.

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