School closures, unemployment, stay-at-home orders and financial concerns surrounding the COVID-19 outbreak have stressed the resources of local food banks and similar organizations. Operations of services such as Water Street Mission in Lancaster have been negatively impacted by a decreased availability of volunteers and social distancing guidelines for common hall dining, putting extra pressure on the ability to feed the mission's guests.
Lititz-based Listrak, in partnership with former state Sen. Mike Brubaker of Hunger-Free Lancaster County, North Group Consultants, in-kind donors and other community leaders, has launched the Lititz Community Hub. With this initiative, Listrak's culinary staff is preparing and delivering hot meals weekly for guests of the Water Street Mission from its corporate cafe, called The Hub, located at the company's 93,000-square-foot Warwick Township facility headquarters.
According to CEO and co-founder Ross Kramer, Listrak has a full-service kitchen staffed by culinary professionals who prepare meals for its employees daily. With employees now working remotely, the company decided to put its food service team to work to assist those in need of a hot, nutritious meal. Listrak partnered with Kegel's Produce, United Way of Lancaster County, and Meals on Wheels of Lancaster to make the effort possible.
Listrak employees have worked entirely remotely since mid-March. The Lititz Community Hub became fully operational during the week of April 6 and is slated to continue service through Thursday, April 30.
According to Kramer, the company does not anticipate the project to become a long-term program. On April 30, officials will re-evaluate the needs at Water Street and other organizations, as well as in the larger community. The company's greatest need currently is more donations to enable it to prepare and deliver more meals.
To learn more, readers may visit http://www.lititzcommunityhub.com. Currently, the United Way of Lancaster County is handling administration of all monetary donations. Those who represent a community program in need of prepared hot meals are asked to call or text 717-842-0570.
For more information, readers may visit http://www.listrak.com. To learn more about Water Street Mission, readers may visit http://www.wsm.org. For more information about North Group Consultants, readers may visit http://www.northgroupconsultants.com. For more information about Hunger-Free Lancaster County, readers may visit http://www.hungerfreelancaster.org.
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