La Verne food bank lends helping hand with drive-thru services amid coronavirus outbreak

LA VERNE, Calif. (KABC) -- A community food bank in La Verne has been helping people in need for decades, and while that's still its core mission, it's had to undergo some adjustments due to the coronavirus.

Volunteers with "Sowing Seeds for Life" have handed out food every other Wednesday until it runs out. What's usually an intimate community service has been transformed into a drive-thru pick-up only service as contact with others is discouraged.

"The way we have to do it, the six feet distance, we never did it, this is the first time... so it's really an experience for us," said volunteer Rudy Sanchez.

Volunteers like Lydia Villanueva usually come in close contact with the people that the food bank serves.

"Usually I'll walk down the line, I greet everybody and we hug and we embrace and I care for them, they care for me but this is something we gotta do, and you know take secure measures," she said.

Under direction from local and federal health officials, volunteers are now placing food items directly in people's cars in order to avoid physical contact.

Sitting in his car, John Payne told Eyewitness News that the system worked out well and was "faster."

For now, volunteers say supply is no concern and recipients are grateful.

"I'm very thankful for what they're doing and I know everything's going to be okay. Yeah, I'm not stressing on it," said John Rays of San Dimas.