Despite Shortages, Tri-Valley Haven Continues Daily Grocery Runs

LIVERMORE, CA — One week into the Bay Area’s shelter-in-place order, workers at Tri-Valley Haven are still making daily grocery pickups for households in need — but they’re facing shortages of volunteers and groceries, as Bay Area residents stock up on their own supplies.

The Livermore-based team at Tri-Valley Haven makes 12 pickups Monday through Friday at grocery stores around the Tri-Valley area, Ralph E. Johnson, Director of Homeless and Family Support Services, told Patch. They’ve been at it since 2004, unloading the donated groceries, sorting and shelving the food and distributing it to as many as 45 households each afternoon.

But last week, Johnson had to ask his team of 15 volunteers to stay home, since many of them fell into the at-risk age group for the new coronavirus. Now, it’s a two-person operation, plus Johnson, who’s staying home himself since he, too, is old enough to be at risk.

Meanwhile, grocery stores have had less and less food to donate.

“We did discover the volume of the food at most of the locations went down drastically,” Johnson said. “We got very little if any produce, dairy and bread.”

Tri-Valley Haven is taking new precautions for its daily distribution. While customers once brought their own bags, workers are now handling the bagging themselves. And Johnson said he’s afraid the project may have to shut down entirely sometime in the coming weeks — if, for example, one of the few remaining workers contracts COVID-19 and has to self-quarantine.

“All our runs have to continue and we have scheduled them to continue this coming week,” Johnson said Sunday. “How long that will continue is just a day-by-day basis.”

Tri-Valley Haven is open to new volunteer drivers, Johnson said. Anyone interested can email ralph@trivalleyhaven.org.

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