As a response to the food shortage that local pantries have been experiencing during the pandemic, Bryn Mawr Trust will host a contactless food drive on Saturday, Nov. 7 from 1-3 PM at its West Chester branch, located at 849 Paoli Pike.

Since the start of the pandemic, food pantries and other charities have seen an unprecedented demand from those in need and have been struggling to meet that demand.

Bryn Mawr Trust saw this need and in late August formulated the idea to host contactless food donation drives at branches where surrounding food pantries are struggling.

“We wanted to do our part to make it less challenging for people experiencing hunger,” said Loren Berckey, Bryn Mawr Trust’s Marketing Manager.

“One of the things we saw is that a lot of people didn’t have that safety net — the six months’ worth of savings that you hear about for emergencies. Some people didn’t even have one month saved up.”

With no money coming in and several expenses such has utilities, rent or mortgage, transportation, and childcare coming up for the next month, people found they had less money to spend on necessities like food. This led BMT to jump into action.

The contactless food drive is as easy as the contactless pickup now offered by grocery stores. Someone who wishes to participate in the food drive simply has to bring a bag of non-perishable food and follow the signs guiding them in the correct direction.

Following the instruction of employees, the driver will stop their car and pop their trunk for the employee to collect the donation. After the employee closes the trunk, donors may follow the exit signs and be on his or her way. It’s that easy!

Additionally, there will be designated parking spaces for those who have their donations in the front of the car with them, instead of the trunk. At these spaces, donators may step out, while wearing a mask, and set their donation on a table, where it will then be collected by an employee.

So far, BMT’s contactless food drives have collected 4,400 pounds of food across the Greater Philadelphia, Southeastern and Central Pennsylvania, and Central New Jersey areas.

The 10 most-needed items are peanut butter, canned tuna or meat, canned fruits & vegetables, non-refrigerated boxed milk, oatmeal and breakfast cereal, cooking oil, canned stew & soups, jams & preserves, 100 percent juice, and pasta & rice.

Learn more about Bryn Mawr Trust’s contactless food drives here.