People asked to use phone for Easter Basket signup

Signup deadline for Easter baskets distributed by the Havre Salvation Army and Havre Copmmunity Food Bank is March 31, and organizers are asking people who want to participate in the program to contact them by phone this year.

“This year we’re doing it a little differently because of the social distancing (requirement),” Trina Crawford, Salvation Army director of emergency services, said. “We are going to do it all by phone calls, and if we are needing to see documentation, we will make appointments for them to come in.”

This will be complicated, Crawford added, but they are working to do what is in the best interest of the clients and the public, by following the social distancing requirements put out by Gov. Steve Bullock.

Because the Salvation Army is working with Havre Food Bank, the Easter Basket Program can accept applications from individuals and families at or above 200 percent of poverty or with otherwise qualifying need, she said.

Though the menu hasn’t been set yet, Crawford said, the baskets will include a meat, probably ham or turkey, and potatoes, along with other fixings. The baskets will be handed out the week before Easter.

The program, similarly to the annual Thanksgiving baskets, has gotten 45 to 60 participating, she said, and this year they expect that number to be on the high end, or even above normal because of the economy and financial stress on families this spring.

Anyone who doesn’t make the deadline but still wants a basket will be put on a waiting list and will have to show their documentation, Crawford said.

“I want the public to know that when we’re doing these food baskets, (the process) is going to look different than it has in years previous,” she said, as they follow current health and safety regulations. “There definitely will be some new rules and precautions. For example, if the quarantine … has not been lifted, basically there can be only one or two people that come in at a time.”

They don’t have the manpower to deliver the baskets so will notify people who are getting baskets just what that process is when it gets closer to the day baskets will be handed out.

People can sign up by calling Salvation Army at 265-6411 and Samantha Nimmick at Havre Food Bank at 265-2007.

Crawford also stressed that her office is open and still working to serve the people, both clients at or above 125 percent of poverty and those in need, though they are having to operate a little differently in the office, as well. People need to knock on the door, and staff will let them into the office. The office is then wiped down after that client leaves so it’s ready for the next person, she said.

“They have to know that we’re still serving; that we’re still going to help,” Crawford said.