Three years ago, Greta Randolph’s work to meet the needs of the Richmond community “exploded,” she says, as a novel disease began creating upheaval and disruption.

As the directional leader for outreach for The Saint Paul’s Baptist Church, she saw requests for help increase dramatically after March 2020, when the coronavirus was declared a global pandemic.

In response, Ms. Randolph led church members as they aided around 1,500 families weekly through food distribution and other services aimed at helping people achieve stability. That rise in demand led Ms. Randolph and others at Saint Paul’s to respond to the host of impacts the disease caused in people’s lives, from homelessness to a collapse of livelihood as businesses closed. She began collaborating with other organizations that also were seeking to deal with the distress.

While she reports that the demand for help has declined from the rise seen in 2020, Ms. Randolph said that Saint Paul’s has remained on the front lines in helping the community. That includes creation of a new food distribution event that began last Friday, March 11, at Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School in the East End that was organized with help from a school employee and friend of Ms. Randolph.

That initial event at the middle school, held a full two years since the pandemic first struck the United States, served around 250 families. The initiative will continue it on the second Friday of each month.

“We’re doing what we were called to do,” Ms. Randolph said. “Whatever the community is asking (for) and they need help with, we’re just trying to step into the gap and fill some of those spaces.”

Saint Paul’s Baptist Church is one of many outreach groups in Richmond that have worked to address the shifting needs of the community and weather the demands of the pandemic. All are looking to further their efforts in 2022 as the city — and the nation — moves tinto its third year with COVID-19.

Feed More, which distributes food through 277 partner food pantries, soup kitchens and nonprofits across 34 cities and counties in Central Virginia, has seen a 15 percent increase in food insecurity across its service area in Central Virginia since 2019, officials said. More than 165,000 residents have been served in 2022.

Nearly 40 million pounds of food was distributed last year through both its distribution center and its own Meals on Wheels program, which delivered meals to people on 92 routes.

“Just over the last two years, we’ve increased to over 100 different routes,” said Margaret Dodson, Feed More’s field operations supervisor. “We’ve seen a lot more folks needing the services that we provide.”

For RVA Community Fridges, which seeks to alleviate food insecurity by plac- ing refrigerators throughout the Richmond area for free community use, working to meet that need has produced a positive response from the public.

The organization recently celebrated a full year since the placement of its first community refrigerator at Pomona Plants at 2025 Venable St.

“Regardless of how crazy COVID has gotten, people are still aware that there are some people who might not have access to some of the things that we do to be safe,” said founder Taylor RaShon Scott. “Being able to get help to people is still a great priority and thought on people’s minds, which is awesome. We really appreciate everything.”

The Richmond Ephesus Seventh-day Adventist Church in South Side also has worked to aid the public through its Com- munity Service Ministry, which has been running for more than 20 years.

Aid has included not just food distribu- tion, but programs for youths and families focused on sports, writing and more. The church also has shared its unused resources with nearby churches and other groups, according to Johnny Goodman, the min- istry’s assistant director.

The Richmond branch of the Islamic Circle of North America, which started its outreach during the pandemic, has been able to adjust to the challenges and pitfalls that have emerged in the past year.

For ICNA Relief Richmond, the group has benefitted from partnering with area schools and the Henrico County government. A recent distribution event they held saw people in more than 150 cars picking up diapers, baby formula and other supplies.

“I would definitely say that in early January, we were wondering where we were heading,” said Hamna Saleem, outreach co- ordinator for ICNA Relief Richmond. “But now we have a strong hold on it. We see a lot of our projects coming to life.”

For Saint Paul’s, the new food distribution program at King Middle School is just the start of their effort to help the school’s students and their families. In the works are special initiatives on workforce development and basic finance and parenting skills.

The church also is collecting donations for re-entry and homeless services agencies, nursing homes, juvenile correctional center and the families of the incarcerated this month, Ms. Randolph said.

All of the groups said support from the public is essential for them to meet their service goals.

“We welcome any and all help, regardless of what resources people can offer, what knowledge people can offer,” said Qui Nguyen, a supporting administrator for RVA Community Fridges.

“If you want to help and you want to make a difference, talk with us and see where your strengths and your passions can fit into our mission, because I guarantee you, we’ll figure it out.”