When many of the pantries and soup kitchens in the area shut down due to the pandemic, Lou Farrell, of Hatfield, devised a plan on how to ensure those in need received much-needed food, according to a staff report from WHYY.

“People didn’t know how to keep their staff safe, how to distribute food,” said Farrell, “so we had to come up with a different model.”

The retired chef and teacher calls his idea Bread Drop.

“What we do is pretty simple,” he said, “we collect peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, snack bags and fruit bags, and we deliver them to hungry people.”

To keep volunteers safe, Farrell makes sure they prepare sandwiches in their own kitchens, within their COVID-19 bubbles.

He then picks up prepared items at designated drop-off locations and drives them to churches, soup kitchens, and various organizations in the region that then distribute them to those in need.

“I’m the logistics guy,” Lou Farrell said, “I’m the guy in the middle.”

Some of his volunteers prepare around 100 sandwiches each week and they have so far made more than 200,000 sandwiches.

Read more about Lou Farrell and his Bread Drop operation helping the community in WHYY.