Agape still overcoming pandemic challenges

As the coronavirus pandemic has affected several businesses and nonprofits, including Agape Ministries, Inc., businesses are still operating effectively.

Executive Director Patti Hamilton told St. Marys Rotarians on Wednesday how the nonprofit located on the east side of town on Spring has been able to maneuver its operations amid the pandemic.

During the shutdown caused by the coronavirus, Hamilton said Agape saw about an extra 35 clients a week. Through the first month of the shutdown, Agape opened its food pantry on Saturdays as it saw an increase of 50 to 60 clients a week from what it was a year ago.

Agape also saw an increase in its Weekend Power Packs program from 124 bags last year to 200 this year. The program is intended for children in school systems throughout western and southwestern Auglaize County to receive enough food to feed them through the weekend with two breakfasts and two lunches.

“We have more kids than we probably realize who are at-risk of not having food on the weekends,” Hamilton

said. “They’re fed in school, usually for breakfast and for lunch but this helps them get through the weekend.”

Agape’s thrift store, which serves as the nonprofit’s largest source of revenue, was closed for 45 days from March through May at the height of the pandemic. But Hamilton added that Agape received funds from the Paycheck Protection Program Loan Forgiveness and grant money from both the city and the county totaling $25,000.

To make shopping safe at the thrift store for customers, Hamilton said Agape purchased a disinfectant fogger machine that she uses twice a week, barriers have been placed at cash registers and hand sanitizing stations are placed throughout the store.

“We continue to strive to make the store experience as good as possible as well as the client services building,” Hamilton said.

And while only three employees have been diagnosed with COVID, one of those includes Hamilton herself.

“I had a very mild case, I was very fortunate, but that isn’t the case for everyone,” Hamilton said. “I have two friends my age who had it in the beginning and they’ve had it a second time and in both times they were in the hospital. So it can be very debili

tating.

“It is real and let’s hope that everyone stays as healthy as possible.”

As Agape continues to work through the rest of 2020 and ready to turn to a new year, Hamilton is looking further ahead at what she calls Agape’s five-year forecast. Included in that forecast is the ability to begin providing classes to clients for what Hamilton considers everyday skills.

“What I see in our clients is they struggle with what I consider everyday things — getting an application for a loan, getting a checking account, preparing taxes if you are not a business owner, housekeeping,” she said. “These are just everyday things that we take for granted or things that we think everybody knows that they don’t necessarily know.”

Agape will be looking for volunteers to help teach those classes that will most likely be held in the evening.

Hamilton said she also wants to begin teaching clients how to use Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint and other programs as part of a Microsoft Office suite and how to use tax software.

“Sometimes just knowing how to prepare your taxes independently makes you feel very accomplished,” Hamilton said. “We have been very fortunate with the monetary donations, the grants and the PPP so that’s a very doable thing and my board stands behind me on that.”

Since accepting them again in May, Hamilton said the amount of donations has been “tremendous” but to help sort and re- organize them, Agape will not be taking donations from Dec. 28 to Jan. 4.

“We are just trying to clean everything out and get everything organized again,” she added. “Everybody has been so generous. It just takes a lot of personnel to go through that and sometimes we don’t always have it.”

When asked what Agape needs help with, Hamilton said the nonprofit could also use volunteers to help count and separate by date all of the food donations it receives.

Hamilton noted that, aside from private individuals who may donate food items, Agape also receives pounds of meat from Walmart in Celina and Wapakoneta, Celina Ruler Foods and Kroger. Those donations are then given to clients every Tuesday and Thursday and every client once a month receives an entire 30-pound box of meat that weighs about 30 pounds.

“That is something that takes a lot of time to do,” she added. “We do get a lot of social groups and students who do help in that regard, but all of this gives families a way to have good food that they may not get otherwise.”

For more information on volunteering for Agape or client services information, visit AgapeMinistriesInc.com or call 419-394-8700.