Volunteers help unpack goods at the Schinnen Commissary March 2020. (Courtesy photo)

Benelux volunteers demonstrate selfless service / shelf-ish service

Bryan Gatchell, USAG Benelux Public Affairs

BRUSSELS -- When it needed help, U.S. Army Garrison Benelux made the call for volunteers, and community members answered.

COVID-19 and the measures implemented to keep it from spreading have altered many things for the community, and one of those affected significantly were the Commissaries at Chièvres Air Base in Belgium and at the Schinnen site in the Netherlands.

Customer shopping patterns changed, and what had been regularly restocked shelves became empty. Customer demand had increased, and moving products from palette to aisle required an increase in the workforce.

Even now, after the initial change in shopping pattern, the Commissary at Chièvres Air Base, Belgium, has between one and three volunteers every day except Sundays, and they stock the food largely in the chill and freeze sections.

“The volunteers we have had have been a tremendous help in getting the store stocked,” said Demetri Elsberry, assistant commissary officer for the Chièvres Air Base Commissary. “The workload has increased, so we’re ordering almost double the product at some times. So they (the volunteers) see that and they’re willing to help. And they’re always in good spirits when they come in.”

The Commissary at Schinnen, Netherlands, also had a need for volunteers, but their need was shorter term when, early during the COVID-19 response, the store could not restock quickly enough to keep up with customer demand.

William Constance, the store manager at Schinnen, said that whereas less than one truck would suffice to restock the store normally, two trucks were needed during one weekend in March. Between Friday evening and Saturday morning, they had volunteers restocking the shelves.

“It was a great help,” said Constance. “We would not have been able to manage it with the people we had at that time.”

Although the Schinnen Commissary is not currently in need of voluntary assistance, Elsberry said that they can still use an extra set of hands or two so the “shopping community continues to get the goods that they’re looking for.”

“We still welcome any and all assistance getting the shelves stocked in the Commissary,” he said.