Delivery drivers who are assisting with the Starke County Government Mobile Food Delivery Program will make their final trips on Thursday, Sept. 10.
Auditor Rachel Oesterreich said it is the biggest delivery day of the program with 152 corrugated boxes of groceries and 297 hot meals ordered by Starke County residents who are quarantined due to COVID-19, those whose employment may have suffered due to the shutdown of businesses due to the health pandemic, and older residents in a time of need.
Nine drivers will be out delivering the requested groceries and hot meals on Thursday.
Oesterreich said Tuesday night that about $25,000 in funds remains and that money will be used to assist families who are quarantined due to COVID-19. Starke County Health Nurse Frank Lynch will help those families with groceries and the county will offer funding for that. The program was funded by grant money from the Office of Community and Rural Affairs, the Starke County Community Foundation and the Northern Indiana Community Foundation.
The Starke County Commissioners expressed their gratitude to those who have volunteered their time to help their fellow residents during this time of uncertainty and they did so without compensation. Those volunteers include Tom Heineman, Jimmy Simpson, Ron Simpson, Jacque Ryan, Gloria Lorenz, John Warren, Shari Tompkins, Linda Howard, Samantha Clary, Sue Brewer, Carol Risner, Starke County Commissioner Bryan Cavender, and Starke County Councilwoman Kay Gudeman.
The program has assisted many residents in their time of need since April. Many of the restaurant owners who participated in the program say that their businesses were able to stay open with the county’s support.
