Cooped up? Here’s how to cope in Gig Harbor: Things to know, stuff to watch and do.

Shopping help for Gig Harbor seniors

The Gig Harbor Senior Center is offering a shopping service for seniors homebound by the coronavirus crisis.

The Silver Support Shopper Service is available to anyone over the age of 60 living in the Gig Harbor and Key Peninsula area. Seniors can place orders for essential food and supplies by phone and email and have them delivered to straight to their door.

The Gig Harbor Senior Center was closed, along with other businesses and activities, by the governor’s “stay home, stay safe” order of March 16.

“What all this meant for the center’s 90 members ... is a prolonged period of social isolation,” said Joyce Schultz, GHSC board president. “We knew that we needed to take action to ensure the needs of our communities seniors were being met, not more than ever.”

An order form is available on the GHSC website, https://gghf.info/SSSGroceryList, or by request from program coordinator Heidi Henson, hhenson@gigharborfoundation.org.

The Gig Harbor Senior Citizen Center is part of the Greater Gig Harbor Foundation.

Plastic bag ban lifted

The City of Gig Harbor is temporarily suspending enforcement of the plastic bag and utensil ban, effective immediately.

Grocers are running out of bags that are compliant with recently passed city ordinances and temporarily lifting the ban provides them the opportunity to use existing stock of non-compliant bags, the city said.

This will stay in effect until the Emergency Proclamation is lifted.

Watch Harbor Wildwatch

Harbor Wildwatch is providing online learning opportunities for families at home.

Every week, the organization will offer three free, educational videos on its own YouTube channel. These videos will be a combination of livestreams and pre-recorded workshops that explore the natural environment, provide STEM learning opportunities, and offer activity ideas for at-home learning.

The Harbor Wildwatch channel is at https://www.youtube.com/user/GigHarborWildWatch

Solve some Harbor Mysteries

Harbor History Museum has created an exploratory web side for everyone stuck at home. It’s called the Harbor Mystery Museum.

There’s a Time Travel section, featuring photos of Gig Harbor’s past, a section called Mysterious Objects from the museum’s collection — the lead story features a “spirit photo” from the 19th Century — and, for younger kids, a selection of black-and-white drawings that can be colored.

The Harbor Mystery Museum site is at https://www.harbormysterymuseum.org/

Free school lunches continue

Peninsula School District is continuing to provide free lunches to all students under 18, Monday-Friday between 11 a.m. - 1 p.m. at:

• Artondale Elementary;
• Evergreen Elementary;
• Purdy Elementary;
• Key Peninsula Middle School; and
• Gig Harbor High School.

Food Backpacks 4 Kids advises that all families needing a food backpack can continue to receive food in its new “Weekly Drive By Food Pick Up Program.” FB4K Director Richard Miller noted that “We will have food available for Saturday driveby pick up each week at three locations: Henderson Bay High School parking lot, Key Peninsula’s Gateway Park parking lot, and Evergreen Elementary School’s parking lot.

Any family in the Peninsula School District with school-age children in need of food may join our program by sending an email to: info@foodbackpacks4kids.org. Just let us know which pickup location is most convenient for you.

Food will be available Saturdays from noon until 1:00 pm. We will continue this as long as our schools are closed. Families without transportation should email us. We want every student in the district to not have issues with food insecurity during this challenging time.”

This story was originally published April 14, 2020 at 12:00 AM.