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His face covered with a mask, Cleveland Way packaged groceries together for a waiting woman looking for a little help. Way and his staff at the American Rescue Workers have this routine down to a science.
People, some in cars, some on foot, pull up to the loading dock of the ARW's Social Services Center on Elmira Street in Williamsport with a card, which lists the number of people in their family. Food gets passed through the garage door and boxed or bagged for those needing assistance.
Smiles are plentiful and heartfelt thank yous are overwhelming from those in need.
"I'm so grateful to you all," one woman says as groceries are loaded into her car.
Despite the pandemic, the services offered by the American Rescue Workers, like its grocery assistance program, are still up and running. The ARW is struggling financially in these uncertain times, but was still there on this particular Wednesday afternoon passing out groceries to anybody who asked for assistance to feed their family.
On a normal day, Way and his staff pass out groceries to around 50 families. On this day, 85 families came through the social services center looking for help. And the ARW was able to help every one of them. Nearly 750 families come through the Social Services Center each month, each one getting the help it needs.
More than 80% of the ARW's revenue is generated by the 10 thrift stores it operates in Lycoming, Clinton, Bradford, Northumberland and Union Counties, but currently all 10 stores are closed due to Gov. Tom Wolf's closing of non-life-sustaining businesses.
It's left the non-profit organization in a bind as it brings in little revenue to operate its homeless shelters, grocery assistance, and other programs to assist community members in need.
ARW in Williamsport was initially to be closed by Wolf's closure of non-life-sustaining businesses because it is classified as a church. But after filing for a waiver because it does act as a homeless shelter, the ARW was allowed to remain open and provide the assistances to the community it offers.
"We have absolutely no intent of closing our shelters," said Valerie Fessler, director of development and community engagement. "We are going to keep the shelters open no matter what. We are going to continue to run our social services programs. We're going to run our feeding program. No matter what, we will have access to food and we will be able to feed people throughout this crisis."
How it's going to do that has become the tricky part in recent days. ARW's 10 thrift stores, which sell donated clothing and items, generates roughly $50,000 per week.
That weekly revenue is generally enough to cover its operational costs. Now, the organization has the burden of the costs of operating its services and feeding 70 homeless shelter residents three meals per day without a large majority of the revenue it uses to pay for it all.
Finances are so tight for ARW that it struggled to meet its last payroll for its 85 employees before a grant from the First Community Foundation Partnership came through for operational costs. Finding funding to cover its next payrolls during the COVID crisis is only going to get more difficult.
ARW was supposed to close on the sale of one of its properties recently which would have covered its next two or three payrolls, but that closing did not happen.
The organization has applied for a small business loan and for the payroll protection program offered through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act recently passed by Congress. But for now, all ARW can do is wait.
"Other than that, I'm not sure what we're going to do," said Dawn Astin, ARW's business administrator. "We're at a difficult fork in the road."
"We are definitely in a place of financial need," Fessler said.
The biggest concern for the ARW is the unknown. Nobody knows how long the governor's shutdown of non-life-essential businesses is going to last. And not knowing how long they'll have to operate in this manner is what concerns Astin.
She has been with ARW since 1979 and has seen lean times before. But even during those times of struggle, the organization was still managing to bring in some revenue. The current crisis is requiring a lot of flexibility among the organization's employees.
Way is the director of shelters, but as they're short-handed in the social services side, he's been helping run the grocery assistance program as more and more people are in need of help.
Mark Williams, kitchen operations manager has had to adjust his meal-planning as the organization is receiving fewer food donations from Wegman's, Giant, Walmart and Target, while still feeding up to 80 homeless shelter residents per day.
"There's a level of anxiety which comes with the unknown," Astin said. "Flexibility is big because every day there are changes."
But despite the unknown, American Rescue Workers plan to keep its operations moving forward. It is still purchasing food from the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank to be handed out to those in need.
"There's no one staffer at American Rescue Workers who wouldn't show up for our clients and for our community," Fessler said. "We're going to continue to staff our shelters and serve the people who have the need."