It looks like a stack of wooden boxes on sturdy, industrial wheels. But Phillip Iman, executive director of The Help Center in Mexico, gazes on it with a nostalgic gleam.

“It’s going to be a shame to retire it,” he said.

After more than a year of curbside food distribution forced by the pandemic, The Help Center is returning to indoor, shopping style service. And for the first time in the facility’s history, distribution is expanding from two days a week to five.

The new schedule begins July 1.

“It is a big change, but everyone will benefit,” Iman pointed out. “It will give the families we serve freedom of choice.”

Iman was constantly frustrated by the curbside routine. Instead of people shopping aisles for what they needed, the center’s staff settled on a system where pre-filled carts were wheeled out to people waiting in their vehicles.

Although Iman encouraged people to give unwanted items to others, the system had the potential for waste. But it was also the only way they found that worked efficiently while maintaining social distancing.

Iman says he struggled with the timing of the new schedule, but with COVID-19 restrictions easing and new cases dwindling into the single digits, the decision was made for a July reopening.

“I don’t believe it’s over,” he said of the pandemic. “But we do have to resume life.”

By expanding to the five day schedule, the facility’s availability jumps from six hours a week to 20 hours a week. Those served by the center remain eligible for groceries once a month, so the expectation is the added hours will spread out patron visits.

At its peak before the pandemic, The Help Center was serving 950 families a month. That number has fallen to around 750. Iman believes the drop is related to stimulus payments allowing families some relief from poverty.

The Food Bank for Central and Northeast Missouri provides 90 percent of The Help Center’s stock, free of charge. The other 10 percent comes from Walmart, Aldi and private donors.

“We get really good product,” Iman said.

Until 2017, The Help Center distributed groceries just one day a week. That year, at Iman’s request, they moved to the two day schedule and then began employing the shopping method.

The pandemic forced a drastic transformation. On March 16, 2020 the Audrain County Health Department alerted The Help Center that the crowded indoor system was unsafe. Two days later, the center implemented the improvised curbside model.

“It was always a work in progress,” Iman explained. “But it was the only way we could do it.”

One of the first problems that they encountered with curbside service was with the check in process, which is done electronically. Rain could threaten to short circuit the system.

A volunteer solved the problem by building the box of boxes on wheels, essentially creating a mobile shelf for Iman’s laptop and paperwork which was protected from the weather.

Hence Iman’s attachment to the piece.

“We’re always looking for volunteers,” he added.