Weekly food distribution events in New London and Norwich took different turns this week, with Friday’s New London event canceled pending changes to COVID-19 safety protocols, while Monday weekly drive-thru food distributions in Norwich are extended through September.

The walk-up, indoor Friday food distributions at St. Mary’s Star of the Sea church in New London had been slated to run through September, but a note on the Connecticut Food Bank/Foodshare schedule stated this week’s mobile food pantry is canceled.

“Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the format of our food distribution at our Mobile Pantry sites will change to keep volunteers and shoppers safe,” the statement said. “Most sites are now drive-thru or a take-away, pre-packaged supply of food. Each site is staffed by a host organization that determines a safe distribution format based on its location and staffing.”

The Norwich weekly drive-thru food distributions were slated to end Monday.

Connecticut Food Bank/Foodshare announced this week it will continue the emergency drive-thru distributions “to serve the people in Connecticut who are struggling with hunger.” The merged food assistance agencies had announced earlier this summer that the distributions would end at the end of August, and participants would receive flyers directing them to local food pantries and human services agencies.

“When we announced the extension of these emergency sites through the summer, we were hopeful that we would be starting to move beyond the COVID-19 pandemic,” Jason Jakubowski, president & CEO of Connecticut Food Bank/Foodshare, said in a news release. “However, given the recent surge of the delta variant, it is clear that we have not reached that point.”

He said while the number of food recipients has not increased dramatically at the various sites, neither has it dropped off.

The Norwich drive-thru distribution runs from 9 a.m. to noon on Mondays. The distributions now are scheduled for Sept. 13, 20 and 27. No distribution will be held on Labor Day, Sept. 6.

Mayor Peter Nystrom, who volunteers at the drive-in event, said more than 1,000 families receive food each week at the site. He welcomed the extension through September and hopes it can continue into the fall. He said flyers were distributed last week announcing that the distributions would end, and now new flyers will be handed out with information about the extension.

“I think they’re acknowledging the continued need,” he said.

Nystrom said food aid agencies are working to build a “better collaborative effort” to coordinate food distribution. “The need is here, and it’s not going away.”

But Jakubowski stressed that the drive-thru food distributions “will not last forever,” as they are not feasible long term.

“We encourage anybody in need to connect with their local food pantry as soon as possible,” he said.

Drive-thru food distributions also are extended through September in East Hartford, Norwalk, West Haven, Bristol, Bridgeport, Putnam and Danbury.

c.bessette@theday.com