The Starke County Government Mobile Food Delivery Program is off to a robust start.
Starke County Auditor Rachel Oesterreich told WKVI News that the response to the delivery of food to those in need was surprising. She noted there were 166 hot meal requests from Christo’s Restaurant for Tuesday’s delivery, along with 50 requests for boxes of essential groceries from Five Star and seven orders for the Koontz Lake Market.
Approximately 60 percent of requests came from senior citizens. The Starke County Government Mobile Food Delivery Program is open to any Starke County resident in need of assistance during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The program is expected to undergo some fine tuning during its availability. The order form will now be live weekdays from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. CT daily for next day delivery. There will be no deliveries on Saturday or Sunday. Orders on Friday will be delivered on Monday. The live time could shut down sooner in the day depending on the number of orders. The form can be found online at co.starke.in.us. If residents aren’t able to access the website, call the Starke County Clerk’s Office at 574-772-9128. If restaurants would like to participate, call the Starke County Auditor’s Office at 574-772-9101
Someone will need to be home when the delivery arrives or the order becomes invalid. The order will be left on the doorstep and the delivery driver will alert the resident of the food’s arrival by ringing the doorbell or knocking on the door. The driver will then back away from the front door to a safe distance until someone comes to the door. Food will not be left unattended on a doorstep if no one is home.
The Starke County Commissioners are applying for an OCRA grant in the amount of $250,000 to help fund the program. Grant funds from the Starke County Community Foundation were already awarded to the county for this program. The commissioners have reserved $100,000 in CEDIT funds to be used for the program if the OCRA funds are not awarded.
