The Gateway House’s annual Trick or Treat Food Drive will be making the rounds through Morehead soon, and the organization is calling for volunteers to help serve people in need.
Officials said homelessness is an underreported issue across the Gateway region, including Rowan and surrounding counties because it is much less visible than in urban areas. The Gateway House provides people experiencing homelessness with basic amenities like food and hygiene products, along with a safe, welcoming place to get back on their feet.
Paul Semisch is the Assistant Director of the Gateway Homeless Coalition, which oversees the Gateway House. He said this food drive will need as many hands as possible, but it is a simple process.
“We go out on a Monday, and with the volunteers, we put the little bags with the little ‘hey, we’re doing a food drive’ [notes], and we leave the bag on their front door. It says, ‘We’ll be back two nights from now, between five and seven, to pick up these bags.’ So, two nights later, the volunteers go back out to all the neighborhoods that we put the bags, and we collect the bags,” said Semisch.
Others are needed to help sort through the items and stock the pantry. Organizers said the annual food drive is typically enough to keep their pantry supplied for months. The more volunteers who help at the food drive, Semisch added, the broader the coalition’s services can extend.
“We’re always excited about that. There’s a lot of work that goes into it,” said Semisch. “But when you see that food pantry once we’re done, it takes us several weeks to sort through everything that comes in on that one night.”
Volunteers will drop off bags in Morehead neighborhoods on October 21 and retrieve the bags filled with food donations on October 23. Anyone can volunteer by calling Gateway House at 606-784-2668.