GREENFIELD — As municipalities strived to clear the roads, maintain services and keep everyone safe, local nonprofits were also preparing to serve the community as best they could.
At Hancock Hope House in Greenfield, staff members are prepared to pass out winter warming kits, 24 hours a day.
Hope House director Andrea Mallory said the kits were for “anyone that is in need of coats, blankets, sleeping bags, pillows, food, water…whatever they might need.”
Hope House also opened a warming center starting on Feb. 8, although no one had used it yet as of Monday morning.
The Hancock County Food Pantry posted on Facebook that it was closed on Monday morning due to impending weather.
The Kenneth Butler Memorial Soup Kitchen was passing out extra food at lunchtime Monday to those in need, in preparation for being closed due to the snow later that night.
“We are giving the patrons two hot lunches and one cold sack lunch because we will not be open for dinner tonight due to the forecasted weather,” kitchen director Jill Ebbert said about the Monday schedule.
She said the kitchen would follow its inclement-weather policy today (Tuesday, Feb. 16), which states that it will be closed if all four Hancock County school systems are closed due to weather.
“Since there is a lot of virtual learning going on right now, we are telling everyone that if the buses don’t run, neither do we,” said Ebbert.
Due to self-imposed COVID restrictions, the kitchen is still serving meals in carry-out fashion while the dining room remains closed.
According to the voicemail greeting for Hancock County Senior Services, the office was closed Monday due to the President’s Day holiday, and would potentially be closed later in the week as well. “Due to the winter season we may have unexpected closures due to inclement weather,” it said.
On Sunday night, the Boys & Girls Clubs of Hancock County posted on Facebook that club staff was keeping an eye on the weather and “will do everything we can to safely remain as an open option for our members…We will try to post as early as we can if we are going to be able to open or not, taking into consideration the safety of our staff as well as our families.” The club did open Monday morning, but urged members’ families to use caution when traveling.
People should check their entities’ websites or social media accounts for the latest information on closings.
