TIFTON — In a queue that resembled the entrance to an amusement park ride, vehicles snaked their way through the Georgia Museum of Agriculture’s front and back parking lots during an emergency food distribution sponsored by Second Harvest of South Georgia on Apr. 9.

The distribution will benefit approximately 1,700 families in Tift County, according to Eliza McCall, chief marketing officer for Second Harvest.

“We plan to do this once a month for as long as its necessary,” she said. “We’re trying to see where the needs are.”

McCall said that all of the food that was distributed was donated by the USDA and is all American grown products.

Those products include apples, oranges, two kinds of pork, canned items, fresh greens, fresh and frozen eggs and pantry boxes.

Rather than have volunteers distribute the items, Second Harvest partnered with the Georgia State Defense Force, an unpaid, volunteer component of the Georgia Department of Defense.

Sergeant Kerry Hatcher, the unit public affairs representative, said that the GSDF trains extensively for these types of events.

Hatcher said that the GSDF members worked during the week to break down the bulk shipments into smaller portions for distribution to families.

“We’re making sure to observe social distancing protocols,” he said.

Each volunteer was wearing personal protective equipment and were only placing items in the trunk, bed or roof of vehicles to limit person to person contact.

Franklin Richards, CEO and director for Second Harvest, said that while the organization has done disaster relief for multiple events over the years, this is unlike anything they’ve experienced.

He said that usually the disaster area is limited and they can shuffle resources from one place to another, but the COVID-19 outbreak is affecting every county in every state.

For more information contact Second Harvest at 229-244-2678.