As the COVID-19 pandemic shuts down businesses and leaves many families without income, organizations like NEEDS face a dilemma: how can we continue to serve our community – in a time when help is needed more than ever – without compromising safety? After much prayer and consideration, NEEDS volunteers were able to come up with a solution.
On March 24, the NEEDS pantry opened a drive-through service. Pantry coordinators Maureen and Janie had pre-packed bags of food and other dry goods, carefully sanitizing all work areas, and signs were posted outside Kenwood Baptist Church alerting clients to remain in their cars and call the desk rather than coming inside. As each call was taken, KBC volunteers placed bags in a designated pickup area, and clients were then instructed to get out and take their bags once the volunteers walked away. While protecting volunteers’ and clients’ safety, NEEDS was able to serve over a dozen appreciative families, including six new clients and totaling about 50 people.
NEEDS is so grateful for the ability to serve our community under extraordinary circumstances. Thank you to Kenwood Baptist Church for helping to make the pantry drive-through a success!
The NEEDS Pantry will be reopening on Tuesday, March 24, 2020 to provide emergency food assistance during this difficult time. We will not be providing financial assistance.
As before, we will be open 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays, serving each family every 60 days. UPDATE April 15, 2020: NEEDS is now serving clients every 30 days during the COVID-19 crisis, and possibly beyond (to be determined as the situation develops).
We serve residents in the following zip codes: 45236, 45241, 45242, 45243 and 45249.
When you arrive at NEEDS (8341 Kenwood Rd, Cincinnati at Kenwood Baptist Church), please remain in your car and follow posted signage.
You will be asked to call our desk at 891-0850 and provide:
your name
whether you have been here before
your family size
car license plate number.
We will serve clients in order of their arrival, providing pre-packed bags with dry goods, meat and limited perishables.
As of today, Friday March 13, 2020, the NEEDS food pantry and emergency financial assistance program are closed.
Our church host, Kenwood Baptist Church, is following the State of Ohio’s direction and it is shut down. Church services and other programs are cancelled and closed until further notice due to the heath concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic.
NEEDS and Kenwood Baptist Church deeply regret that we can not assist our neighbors in northeast Cincinnati at this time when we are most needed.
Please check back on the website or Facebook page to see when NEEDS will be partially or fully operational.
Most of us would like to do more to help our community – but sometimes it’s difficult to fit service into our busy schedules. Luckily, there are ways to give back without even leaving home! If you have an Amazon account, you can support NEEDS simply by shopping online. With just a few clicks, you can choose to send 0.5% of each purchase to NEEDS, helping to provide food and emergency services to needy families in the Cincinnati area.
To get started, open https://smile.amazon.com and log in with your Amazon account information. Next, use the search function to select NEEDS as the charity you would like to support.
Once you select NEEDS, Amazon will confirm your selection and show NEEDS at the top of your account page.
Each time you want to make an Amazon purchase, simply use https://smile.amazon.com instead of https://amazon.com. All of your usual Amazon settings, including Prime benefits, will continue to apply. As your purchases add up, your account header will show how much money you have generated to support NEEDS. Your 0.5% may not seem like much – but small amounts add up!
