September 2020 - Parks & Recreation - 39

The National Guard has stepped in to
provide extra man power for BCRP staﬀ
at food distribution sites.

nonperishable food boxes and boxes containing fresh produce and a
loaf of bread to families.
According to Burman, the
county has served 4,609,745 total meals since March 16, with
BCRP staff serving 76,210 meals
during weekdays since March 23
and 1,059,095 meals during Saturday distribution. BCRP meals
are totaling slightly less than onequarter of the total number of
meals for the entire county.
Michael Palmere, PAL coordinator at Dundalk PAL Center,
runs the largest food distribution
site in one of the most diverse
communities in Baltimore County. " I think the area down here has
been affected with people being
laid off...and we've been addressing an issue that may have been
there slightly prior to [COVID-19],
but it's definitely been magnified
during the pandemic, " he says. " I
know our grab-and-go meals, at
least through June, just kept growing and growing. It seemed like we
were doing 2,500 to 3,000 graband-go meals a week just at the
Dundalk site. "
In addition to providing food assistance, recreation and park staff
further expanded their roles to assist other county agencies. As an
example, during Baltimore's special election for the U.S. House
of Representatives seat formerly
held by the late Elijah Cummings
and Maryland's primary election,
BCRP staff worked at polling sites.
The staff also opened facilities to
host Red Cross blood drives and
even received training to work the
eviction prevention and child safety hotlines.

Fun and Healthy
Alternatives
Throughout this pandemic, Baltimore health officials emphasized
the fact that people need to get
outside in the fresh air and exercise
to maintain overall physical and
mental health. Thus, county parks
and trails remained open as long
as people avoided large gatherings
and followed health guidelines. In
fact, the BCRP team has noticed
an uptick in park visits. Cromwell
Valley Park, for instance, saw a
dramatic increase in the number of
park visitors.
Kris Mervine, regional coordinator for BCRP's nature, agriculture
and environmental centers, adds,
" [T]he nature venues...never really
closed because the standalone nature centers...have large numbers
of people visiting the sites for hiking and just to get outdoors. "
When it comes to taking the
proper safety precautions in parks
and open spaces, Mervine contends
that most people are doing the right
things and physical distancing.
" We added a lot of signage [and]
social distancing ambassadors who

Families can pick up a remote nature
discovery box that includes fun activties
for kids to do at home or in a park.

were helpful..., " he says.
Although nature venues stayed
open, BCRP staff had to develop
alternatives to in-person summer

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Parks & Recreation

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September 2020 - Parks & Recreation

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