Gloucester’s Department of Emergency Management found itself in new territory during the pandemic as it became the center of a massive community giving service dubbed One Can Make a Difference.

The department partnered with local businesses, churches, organizations and community members to distribute meals and information to Gloucester’s shut-ins.

Acting Emergency Management Coordinator Jane Wenner said when the pandemic started, the department sought to identify which population in Gloucester was the hardest with which to connect. They realized that when it came to distributing information, the shut-ins were the group that often went uninformed.

Wenner said the department reached out to Gloucester’s churches to establish a line of communications so they could identify who was in need. Once they knew whom to serve, the question then became how.

An all call went out to the community for canned goods to distribute to the shut-ins, said Wenner. She said packages were made up of nonperishable food, messages of encouragement from churches and information from Emergency Management to keep shut-ins well informed on the pandemic.

Wenner said the Department of Emergency Management is here to make sure residents are prepared and she found that delivering food was the best way to reach them.

As the community outreach continued, Wenner said they received a phone call asking if they would like 200 frozen turkeys. Before even knowing how to store the turkeys, the department accepted. She said along with the 200 turkeys, Emergency Management was also given 200 frozen hams.

Emergency Management, its partner churches and civic groups had to come up with a way to store, cook and distribute the poultry. Wenner said a number of restaurants aided in the storing and cooking the frozen food. She said everyone came together to cook, collect and distribute the packages of food and information.

“It was one of the best things I’ve ever been a part of,” she said.

Wenner said the packages were filled with nonperishable foods, a pound of frozen meat and messages from churches along with information on the virus from Emergency Management. She said people also donated a variety of household goods. A number of volunteers, including Rep. Rob Wittman (R-Montross), aided in the distribution.

Wenner said the response she saw from the community spoke volumes about Gloucester. She said this county is full of people who are willing to come together for others their community. When it was all said and done, over 800 meals and 1,887 bags of groceries were provided to Gloucester’s shut-ins, she said. The program ended in June 2020 but Wenner said canned goods and words of encouragement were distributed until December 2021.

Wenner said the lines of communication and relationships that Emergency Management made during this time of giving are still paying dividends. With hurricane season on the horizon, she said the department has avenues it can use to distribute vital information.