Dear CARES Family,

I pray that this finds all of you well.  I am so grateful for our partnership in ministering to the needs of the beautiful people of Pickens County.  Regardless of the challenge presented by the outbreak of the Coronavirus, our efforts to “Share Love and Life’s Essentials” will go on.

Falling in line with the recommendation of experts in the field of epidemiology, we will do our part in keeping people at a safe distance from one another.  After conferring with our Board of Directors, these are our recommendations to be initiated starting on Monday, March 16 and to continue until the situation at hand runs its course:

*We will provide boxes of non-perishables for our families for curbside pick up at CARES.

*We will temporarily minimize the use of volunteers on campus. Paid staff will be primarily responsible for assembling the boxes.  Boxes will be uniformly filled and assembled based on size of the family.

*Our families can make these curbside pick-ups once per week at any time Monday, Wednesday or Friday from 9:00 am until 12:00.  Recipients will be asked to remain in their vehicles and present their CARES ID.

*The pickup will be recorded and front lobby/administrative volunteers will do the necessary paper work after the fact at a time convenient for them.

*Face-to-face counseling and financial assistance counseling be suspended until further notice. We will conduct these services as needed by phone, if possible.

*Presently we are suspending the pick-up of perishable foods from stores until further notice. We are examining this issue, however, and may continue picking up from the Jasper stores.

I am sure this process will evolve as we go. We will do our best to work together in the execution of these initiatives and evaluate as we go.

We trust that our great God will provide for every need as we continue "Sharing Love and Life's Essentials."

With much love,

Chris

Chris Rumble

Executive Director

CARES for Pickens County