Tell us who you are!
Mary L. Varner, CEO – Bible Way Fellowship Baptist Church OnePowerfulMovement Food Pantry at 9000 Frey Road. We are a local food hub for the Houston Food Bank. We also distribute food to five other non-profit distributors. Prior to the pandemic we were called a ‘Food Market’ where people could come in and shop with food carts, but now we distribute the boxes of food directly to the customers.
What precautions are set in place to ensure the health & safety of your employees and customers.
We conduct temperature checks on everyone before entering the building. All our staff and volunteers wear masks and gloves. We distribute food outside of the building directly to the customers. We load their trunks, so no one needs to exit their vehicle.
What have you learned about your business or the community during this crisis?
We have learned that we are an under-served community. There is a large Hispanic and Asian population in our community that benefit from our services. Another step taken was to move our days of preparation to Mondays and Wednesdays to allow more time in the process before distribution days - Tuesdays and Thursdays. Presently, we are operating five days a week.
Highlight something special your business has been a part of during this time.
Prior to the COVID-19 virus, the OPM Food Bank served 150 families twice a week (Tuesdays and Thursdays). Since the beginning of the pandemic, the numbers have more than doubled to 450 families per week. Also, we have completed an 8-week special food distribution program, a joint venture with Houston Rocket’s player, James Harden, Kroger’s, and the Houston Food Bank. There were 100 boxes, valued at $100.00 each, distributed every Friday during the 8 weeks. James Harden’s mother assisted with the final distribution on Friday, June 5
th
. Starting Tuesday, June 23
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, our current hours of operation will change to 9:00 a.m. -12:00 p.m.
Anything else you would like the community to know about your business?
OPM is more than just a food bank, in addition we offer an ESL (English as a Second Language) program, adult education, nutritional program which includes a cooking class, and family counseling. Later this year, our plans are to develop a K-12 Home Schooling program to assist working parents that cannot afford to educate their children at home.
