More than 20,000 pounds of donated food distributed

Published 8:00 am Sunday, June 14, 2020

Solomon House and Second Harvest Food Bank teamed up Friday to provide thousands of pounds of food to hundreds of New Iberia residents.

The non-profit organizations set up shop near the Boys and Girls Club in New Iberia for a drive-through food distribution event, allowing local residents to simply drive up to receive donated food that they may not otherwise have been able to afford.

“This is a special distribution event,” Solomon House Director Ellen Nora said. “We’re looking at distributing over 20,000 pounds of food today.”

Organizers were prepared to serve about 250 families, and judging by the serpentine line of vehicles snaking its way through the pickup point Friday afternoon, that number was well within reach.

Mostly non-perishable items (such as canned goods), meats, and other foods were distributed during the event.

Along with Second Harvest and Solomon House, the New Iberia Police Department and Iberia Parish Sheriff’s Office provided traffic guidance, Nora said. Members of the National Guard were on tap to help distribute the food to those who drove up.

Nora said Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers also provided lunch for the volunteers working throughout the day to prepare for the distribution.

Apart from the food drive, Nora said that Solomon House has been seeing increased numbers of clients ever since the COVID-19 pandemic broke out across the state in March.

The director said the non-profit is seeing an extra 90 new families per week since the pandemic began, above and beyond the regular Solomon House clients. Of those 90 new families, Nora said about 50 have never had to go to a food pantry before.

Last month, Solomon House served 1,700 people and distributed approximately 31,000 pounds of food.

At the distribution event Friday, Nora said those attending did not have to provide identification, income statements or be a regular client of Solomon House.

“We just want to serve the community and this is one way to do that,” she said.