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Church converts to virus resource center

Jordan Beck | Daily Press Red Cross Collection Specialist Shawn Sutliff collects blood from Dave Hamelin of Flat Rock during a blood drive at Wellspring Community Church Wednesday.

ESCANABA — A local church has temporarily shifted gears in order to help meet the needs of people in the area during the coronavirus pandemic.

Wellspring Community Church, located in the Delta Plaza Mall, started responding to the threats posed by coronavirus in mid-March.

“The very first week that the order came out to not be in groups over 250, we decided to do church only by livestream on Sunday,” Pastor Paul Culbertson said.

As a result, Wellspring found itself with a significant amount of space that was going mostly unused. “Immediately, it came to our minds — what could we use the church for at this time?,” Culbertson said.

The answer, he said, was to use the church as a resource center. The center opened on March 18, and it has been well-received.

“It’s been pretty good. I think that we’re filling a gap for a lot of families that were used to having an income each week,” Culbertson said.

Wellspring has been supported in its efforts by another local organization.

“Right now, we have the pregnancy care center (Pregnancy Services of Delta County) partnering with us,” Culbertson said.

According to Culbertson, the resource center has diapers, wipes, formula, baby food, toilet paper and everyday grocery items available for people in the community.

“We also have some activities for kids,” he said.

While Wellspring initially served as a drop-off and pick-up site for donations, it now provides free deliveries of these supplies to the people who need them.

“There’s zero charge for anything we do,” Culbertson said.

Additionally, the church has been working with the Red Cross to host blood drives at the resource center.

“There is a desperate need right now,” Culbertson said of the current demand for blood.

The latest blood drive held at the center took place Wednesday. An estimated 50 donors participated in the blood drive; Cat Harper of the Red Cross, who served as the drive’s supervisor, said the community’s response to the event was “great.”

Harper noted the Red Cross’ low supply of blood is due in large part to the cancellation of blood drives that were scheduled to take place at offices and schools. She thanked Wellspring for stepping up and providing a space where blood drives could continue to be held locally.

“They opened their doors for us so we can continue collecting the units we need,” she said.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, some extra safety precautions had to be taken during Wednesday’s blood drive.

“We do have to comply with the social distancing,” Harper said.

Donors were also required to get their temperature checked and sanitize their hands as part of the check-in process for the drive.

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