WESTON — Nearly a dozen people lined themselves along Franklin Street in Weston on Saturday, July 18, waiting for their turn to cycle through the Weston Food Pantry and pick up some much-needed food for the next month.

As millions of Americans and thousands of local residents have faced unemployment throughout the coronavirus pandemic, the food pantry has continued to distribute free food to those in need from 10 to 11 a.m. each third Saturday of the month.

While the virus and its risks have eliminated most community gatherings, volunteers and shoppers were bustling about in masks and gloves on July 18, laughing and catching up together as they do each month.

“Most of these people grew up together and are here to help one another,” said Greg Phillips, one of the volunteers who helps manage the food pantry. “We’re really proud to be able to support our community like this.”

For safety reasons during the pandemic, all volunteers are required to wear face coverings and gloves while working in the food pantry, and patrons must wear face coverings and are limited to three individuals around the food-stocked oval tables within the small building. Patrons are asked to either wait in their vehicles or keep distance between other families as they wait, and some masks can be made available by volunteers at the door for those who don’t have one.

“We’ve got a routine down now,” volunteer and assistant manager Bill Dobos said of the pantry’s coronavirus precautions.

The food pantry is run by roughly two dozen volunteers and a six-person board of directors, and is supported in supplies and resources by the Community Action Program of East Central Oregon (CAPECO) and the Oregon Food Bank. While based in Weston, the food pantry serves residents of Athena, Adams, and other surrounding communities in northern Umatilla County.

“We don’t care where you’re from, we’re here to help anybody,” Phillips said.

Volunteer Carol Kirk said local firefighters and EMS personnel regularly help unload truckloads of food and supplies sent by CAPECO each month. Each shipment usually has enough of everything, Kirk said, to provide for the community — except for items like bread, milk, eggs and cheese.

Phillips said the food pantry uses some of its limited monetary donations to pay for those items, though recently there’s also been some help right around the corner on Weston’s Main Street.

Starting in June, Pam Hawley and Tim Hughes of Upper Crust Weston have baked and donated 40 loaves of bread to help supplement the pantry’s supply.

But according to Hawley, a graduate of the final class at Weston High School in 1973 before it merged with schools in Athena, the bread is the product of donations from a group of Weston natives spanning a handful of graduating classes from the now-retired school.

Hoping to do something to give back to the community, Hawley said she and an old friend from the area helped reach out and organize the donations, which so far have her and Hughes planning another two rounds of 40 loaves to be donated in August and September.

“It’s a loaf of bread, but I hope it’s symbolic in that there are people who care about this community,” Hawley said.

The donations have been greatly welcomed and appreciated for the food pantry, which is readying for an increase in need due to the unemployment assistance from the federal coronavirus relief package set to expire on July 31.

While in recent months the pantry has served around 30 people who shop for themselves and their families, Phillips said he wouldn’t be surprised to see those numbers rise into the 60s as early as next month.

“We expect a surge is coming,” he said.