By Greg Ellison

(July 9, 2020) The Community Church At Ocean Pines outreach ministry, which helped alleviate food shortages with its Sarah’s Pantry operation throughout the coronavirus shutdown, has reopened its Shepherd’s Nook Thrift Shop and Flea Market in limited capacity.

Pantry manager Marian Bickerstaff said in addition to amended operations for food donations and distribution since mid-March, the ministry’s other outreach efforts have resumed in recent weeks.

“Sarah’s Pantry was in operation through the entire pandemic,” she said. “The thrift store and flea market, our retail entities, had to be closed along with other stores.”

Bickerstaff said the doors at Shepherd’s Nook reopened, with health-safety guidelines in place, as Maryland rolled back more pandemic restrictions

“The Shepherd’s Nook store and the flea market is open now too, and they have changed their procedures as well,” she said.

Both projects have altered business operations because of the novel coronavirus.

“The pantry used to have people come in, and we would fill their order from a form they fill out inside the building,” she said.

Bickerstaff said that process was switched in March to phone-in procedures.

“We’re doing business differently,” she said. “Now what we’re doing is posting our phone number on the door and asking them to remain in their car while they make the phone call.”

Orders are then filled by pantry volunteers and brought outside to waiting vehicles with no physical contact.

Bickerstaff, who had concerns about getting enough food to meet client needs earlier this year, was surprised by the flood of support from individuals and businesses.

“The generosity of our community — if there’s anything that’s blown me away, it’s that,” she said.

Besides the backing from congregation members and the general public, support was lent by Food Lion, Wawa and Mountaire Farms.

“We’ve had businesses and people drop off checks and food,” she said.

Last year, Sarah’s Pantry dispersed more than 100,000 pounds of food to an average of 300 clients monthly, largely through a referral program with Worcester County.

“We’re serving the whole county and we did that the entire time,” she said. “We have a pantry that operates pretty much on referrals from agencies, but we would never turn anyone away that’s hungry.”

Bickerstaff said in many instances pantry staff provide clients information about additional county services that could be of assistance.

‘”We actually share food with other food banks,” she said. “We’ve had volunteers who have been driving to Pocomoke, where the need is really great, and sharing some of the food down there.”

Much to her amazement, Bickerstaff said numerous residents contacted the pantry during the outbreak to volunteer their services.

“The biggest surprise to me was getting phone calls from people wanting to help,” she said.

The now reopened Shepherd’s Nook Thrift Shop and Flea Market, in addition to limiting the number of consumers allowed inside at one time, has instituted other health-safety practices.

“They are asked to have their temperature taken at the door and they must wear a facemask,” she said.

The precautions carry further significance due to the adjacent children’s daycare at the Little Lambs Learning Center.

“We need to be extremely careful of what we do here and how it could affect the children,” she said.

Both Sarah’s Pantry and Shepherd’s Nook are open Wednesdays-Saturdays from 9 a.m.-1 p.m.

For more information contact Sarah’s Pantry at 410-641-8392.