Food Banker Tests Positive COVID-19

As a leader during times of crisis, there are always moments that are trying and difficult. For the team at the North Texas Food Bank, learning that one of our NTFB family members tested positive for COVID-19 was one such moment. Our hearts are with this employee, a member of the NTFB family, and we wish this individual a speedy recovery. We are in close communication with the employee and their family, working to ensure a safe recovery and smooth transition back to work at the appropriate time. 

I wanted to take a moment to share the information that we have provided to our media partners with you, our trusted supporters:

On Monday April 6, 2020, the North Texas Food Bank was made aware of a positive Coronavirus (COVID-19) case involving an NTFB employee. This employee is a member of the transportation team at the Food Bank, which is located at 3677 Mapleshade Lane in Plano. The infected team member was last onsite March 27, 2020 and has been self-quarantined since March 28, 2020. The Food Bank is also notifying third parties who may have come in contact with this individual.

“The health and safety of our employees and the community that we serve is our top priority,” said Trisha Cunningham, President and CEO of the North Texas Food Bank. “Our Food Bank team is a family. We are praying for this team member and wishing them a speedy recovery. They have been asked to self-quarantine per the recommendations from the CDC. We are fortunate to have processes in place to disinfect our spaces regularly, and thanks to this effort, we will not need to close down our warehouse.”

The NTFB is following CDC guidelines to protect our employees and those we serve. We remain open and fully operational to meet the rising need for food assistance in the region.

The Food Bank has the following procedures in place for safety:

1. The facilities team consistently sanitizes surfaces such as in breakrooms, door handles and other high touch spaces with products approved to combat the spread of the virus
2. All teams that work the production floor are asked to regularly wash their hands and practice social distancing.
3. Employees and members of the Texas National Guard will have their temperature screened prior to starting their work as quickly as our temperature scanners arrive
4. All personnel are required to wear face masks or coverings when in the same workspace as others.  
5. Hand sanitizer is available and in use across the production floor and sanitization kits are available to the food bank’s external facing staff, including drivers.
6. Our warehouse employees have implemented three round the clock shifts to further limit exposure between employees.
7. The Food Bank has shifted its distribution method to a drive-thru model to limit contact between staff and the public.

Know that the Food Bank is doing everything we can to ensure a safe work environment for our team, which now includes more than 250 members of the National Guard. Thanks to increased cleaning procedures and products accessible to employees in our facility over the last several weeks, we can continue our important work. Our transportation team might see some interruptions as we ask individuals who came in contact with this employee to quarantine in an abundance of caution. Our team is also working to limit the contact between our logistics team and members of the public.

Here is what I know, we will get through this stronger than we were before. We will press on and perhaps be better because of this. These are unprecedented circumstances and the decisions we are having to make are tough, so we want to thank you for your support of the NTFB. Please join us in solidarity as we pray for the speedy recovery of our NTFB family member.  

Suzanne Drotman, Vice President of People and Culture

*Note the team previously shared that we received this information on Sunday April 5- the information was actually received on Monday April 6.