JACKSON — It’s like a pit crew in slow motion. At the drop of an imaginary green flag, the first vehicle inches into place. The tailgate opens. Volunteers rush to fill the compartments with boxes of frozen meat, three dozen eggs, bags of produce, oatmeal, coffee, toilet paper, and other items meant to supplement four weeks of nourishment and well being.

A quick hello to the people inside. A shared chuckle. A wave.

Someone shuts the tailgate. The operator drives off, tooting the horn in a final thank you – a noise that the volunteers hear often. Quickly, the crew return to their food stations where they load their arms with more provisions as the next car pulls to a stop. The volunteers repeat the process upwards of 135 times in an hour and a half, or more.

By 6:30 a.m. on the third Friday of every month, approximately 35 volunteers have already hit the ground running in order to make that 9:30 a.m. food distribution start time at Jackson Food Pantry flow quickly and with relative ease.

Cynthia Ludden is director of Jackson Food Pantry, now in its 33rd year. Her father worked for the USDA, instilling a mentality into his family of making sure people are provided for. Ludden’s niece operates the No Greater Love Pet Pantry, in Belfast. A nephew and a granddaughter help at the food pantry. Despite all the years of community service, Ludden looks with awe upon these drive-thru events, the lines of vehicles stretching down the road and out of sight, and the volunteers who make it happen.

“It’s incredible,” she said, during the May event.

They aim to spend approximately one minute to load each car. Distribution varies. One client could be picking up for six people. Or, there could be three people in one car picking up for 10 people. Generally, the team manages to provide for 30-40 cars per hour.

The team has only held one inside distribution day since 2020, when pandemic restrictions changed the “come to us inside” mentality to “stay in your cars and we’ll come to you.” The weather conditions were just too challenging for the crew that day. But, the next month, they were outside again, having found that a drive-thru is quicker in the long run. So, they set to work at 6:30 a.m., work through rain, snow, mosquitoes, arctic chills, blistering heat, all to provide that monthly critical food source to residents in Jackson, Brooks, Swanville, Waldo, Thorndike, and Monroe.

The need, they say, continues to increase.

Some volunteers are new. Some have been here 26 years or more. Some have ties to the fire department, Select Board, church. At the May 15, 2026 distribution, one volunteer suffers a cut to the hand during the 7:30 a.m. offloading from Good Shepard’s tractor trailer truck. His adult son grabs duct tape from the family vehicle to cover the wound. Another volunteer wears a medical boot.

They work casually, yet diligently. Pallet after pallet exits the semi. Folding tables are set up, assembly-line rollers pushed into place, tote bags opened, bags of potatoes emptied and redistributed. All under the watchful eye of pantry recipients in their cars who often start arriving more than an hour and a half before go time.

In a momentary lull in the setup stage, one volunteer remembers a time when a food recipient did not arrive in a vehicle. She pushed a cart to the event, walked to where the line ended at the time of her arrival, not trying to cut, but patiently inching forward as if she, too, were in a car.

Often, the volunteers don’t get home until noon, beyond ready to put their feet up and rest. When combined, each household receives approximately 400-500 pounds of food per month; 30-40 pounds of that food comes from meat alone.

It’s a lot of work, a volunteer acknowledged. It’s controlled chaos, according to one volunteer. In the end, it’s like a well-oiled machine.

It's the gratification of hearing that toot of the horn, knowing that they are helping members of the community stay in the race for another month.

Reach Sarah Thompson at news@penbaypilot.com