September is Hunger Action Month!

Support your favorite group working to address hunger

Community Food Bank’s Outreach and Impact Specialist, Jesus Loera, working

the mobile fresh market.

Ensuring that all households have access to fresh, nutritious foods is something that has long been of central importance to Alisha Wenger, Executive Director of Community Food Bank. She grew up in Clifton and even though local fruit was grown right down the road, her family was never able to afford any. She went on to serve as a food security volunteer in the Peace Corps in West Africa and returned to the Grand Valley several years ago. From their new warehouse location, Community Food Bank now offers a choice pantry where fresh produce, proteins, grains, and dairy are prioritized, along with nutritious staple food items.

Community Food Bank recently piloted a mobile fresh market to bring local foods directly to Grand Valley residents and food deserts across Mesa County. The produce offered is regionally grown in Colorado, purchased with funds from the state’s Local Food Purchase Assistance grant and primarily sourced by partners at Early Morning Orchard, who are generously donating the use of their market trailer.

The Community Food Bank’s work has not gone unnoticed. The organization was recently selected as one of 36 organizations to receive a WIC CIAO grant from the USDA (one of only two food banks to receive the funding), to increase participation in WIC for families with children under the age of five. “We're just thrilled. We have been building relationships with people who can help us meet and serve those families, but this grant will allow us to do it in a more intentional and focused way,” said Alisha.

Amanda de Bock in the new kitchen for Meals on Wheels Mesa County

Meals on Wheels Mesa County provides homebound seniors with a nutritious meal thanks to a cadre of dedicated volunteers who deliver meals to homebound seniors on a daily basis. Ten months ago, Amanda de Bock and her team moved to their new location in the Food Bank of the Rockies Western Slope Etkin Family Distribution Center, located off G and 23 Road in Grand Junction. Their new commercial kitchen can produce 1,000 meals each day, almost double the number of meals that were prepared in their previous site.

This year, Meals on Wheels is greatly impacted by funding cuts from the Older American Act, a source of State and Federal funding that has long supported the organization. Coming out of COVID and juggling many needs, funding from the Older American Act is divided among various regions of Colorado; the shortfall amounted to a cut of about $400,000 for the organization. Due to these cuts, Meals on Wheels has had to scale back meal production and implement a longer wait list, which is about three months long.

At the same time, food prices have increased dramatically. Due to inflation, Meals on Wheels is spending 20% more per person on food than in 2022. Our Community Foundation recently granted $20,000 to help Meals on Wheels through this challenging time. They are a key organization supporting some of our most vulnerable neighbors. One in ten seniors in Colorado do not know where their next meal is coming from.

Learn more about Meals on Wheels recent budget cut through this KKCO segment. If you have time to give, consider joining their volunteer crew. You may just get hooked! The average length of volunteering with Meals on Wheels Mesa County is 10 years!

Future home for Lift Up's warehouse and multi-use facility in Glenwood Springs 

LIFT-UP is the lead food distributor for the communities along the I-70 corridor from Parachute to the Roaring Fork Valley and has been operating for over 40 years. LIFT-UP operates six fixed site food pantries and several pop-up pantries throughout the Roaring Fork region. Ivan Jackson became the Executive Director in 2021 and since then, he and the LIFT-UP team and regional partners have been thoughtfully assessing how to better serve their communities.

After completing a strategic planning process, a need that rose to the top of the list of priorities was securing another food distribution warehouse that is more centrally located in their service area. Since 2020, demand for LIFT-UP services has increased 600%. Like many food banks, LIFT-UP is working to meet needs that are higher than ever, and far higher than during the crisis of the pandemic. Currently, LIFT-UP staff drives 180 miles round trip from their warehouse in Parachute to their pantry in Aspen in order to provide fresh and staple food items across the Roaring Fork Valley.

Recently, a suitable warehouse became available in Glenwood Springs and LIFT-UP is embarking on a $2 million capital campaign to purchase the 11,000 sq. ft. multiuse facility. The vision for the facility includes a food distribution warehouse, a food pantry open to clients, and a Regional Food Hub to mutually benefit food pantries and local growers. Planning efforts for this project have been in process for the last several years among LIFT-UP’s tri-county partners to better support the regional food system.

Our Community Foundation is pleased to support this campaign with a $100,000 grant commitment from two donor-directed funds.

To learn more about LIFT-UP’s pantry distributions, Farm to Food Bank food sourcing program and more, please visit their website.

Director Nelly Garcia with board members Sonia Cardenas and Amanda McQuade

Child and Migrant Services rebranded this year to become La Plaza, which in Spanish translates to town square, the central gathering place to meet with friends and family, build community and connect with resources. Nelly Garcia Olmos, La Plaza's Executive Director, and staff are fostering such a community in the Grand Valley.

La Plaza began in the 1950s, when three orchard owners began working together to improve living conditions for seasonal agricultural workers and their families. In the early days, the nonprofit provided food, clothing, medical services, and childcare to agricultural workers. Today, La Plaza supports the health and wellbeing of migrant and immigrant communities through empowerment and advocacy. This summer, La Plaza enrolled and served 300 members. Through their twice a month "Resource Nights," members enjoyed a traditional hot meal and connected to community resources like the Mexican Consulate, Mesa County Red Cross and Grand Valley Transit. From May to August, these evenings drew an average of 40 people.

La Plaza recently began its membership model, where workers and their families support the organization with a voluntary membership contribution of $10-$25/year. This model is voluntary and no one is turned away due to lack of funds. Since launching this model, members are more active in the organization’s offerings. Nelly and her team are expanding their vision to support immigrant and refugee families, providing resources to help families get on their feet.

Hunger is a problem here in western Colorado…

where one in two children qualify for free or reduced price school lunch and one in

seven residents do not know where their next meal may be coming from. Our regional

Community Foundation has been working on expanding hunger relief efforts, including the development of summer mobile meal programs - the Lunch Lizard (Mesa County) and the

Meal Monkey (Garfield County) - and providing funding and technical

assistance to address unmet needs and expand programs.