BATON ROUGE- The Louisiana National Guard will work in the Capital Area to try to keep families from going hungry during the shelter-in-place order. 

"Not only do these guys help in service to the country, they're also servicing their communities by helping out those in need especially through the economical crisis that the coronavirus has impacted people with," says 2LT Jesse Frazier.

Wednesday, thirty-seven guardsmen and women are serving in Baton Rouge after being activated this week by Governor John Bel Edwards.

"It's the reason why I joined the national guard because I wanted to have the opportunity to be a part of a team doing official work here with boots on the ground, and have the opportunity to give back," says 2LT Emily Anthony.

Today, they are at the Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank packaging food to give to families in need. 

"A family can take this box and make several meals out of it for the day for their family," says SFC Ruben Mullins.

The food bank says it has seen the number of volunteers drop since the coronavirus pandemic, but the need for food has increased since children are at home and families have to provide extra meals. 
 
"We're just trying to do as much as we can to distribute as much food as we can to make sure our existing clients are taken care of, but also our new clients that we're finding because of unemployment and the rash thereof that we're still trying to address," says Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank CEO Mike Manning.

The food bank is still accepting volunteers. 

So far, the national guard has boxed over 4,000 meals. 

WBRZ'S Tristen Land will have more on the story on News 2 at 6:00.