Purchased Food for the Holidays

As reported in the summer newsletter, purchasing shelf-stable products has not been easy during the COVID-19 pandemic. Since March, there have been inconsistencies in deliveries and prices as manufacturers and distributors work to fulfill the increased demand. For the holiday season, while items such as instant potatoes, oatmeal, and canned vegetables are available, shortages in packaging and other factors have resulted in some supply interruptions. While our Sourcing team is working to fill every partner’s needs, it is recommended partners obtain cranberry sauce and stuffing from other sources. Check Agency Express for additional choices as they become available.

Civil Rights and Food Safety Yearly Training

Food Bank of the Rockies and partner agency personnel are required to complete the Food Safety and Civil Rights certification courses annually. Your partnership with Food Bank of the Rockies may be placed on a temporary hold if the October 3, 2020 deadline for these trainings was not met. If you have concerns regarding the requirements, please contact your Food Bank of the Rockies Programs’ Representative. The required courses are accessible year-round here. If you have questions about your status, please email Mackenzie at mderrick@foodbankrockies.org.

Food Bank of the Rockies Closure October 30th

We will be closing all Food Bank of the Rockies distribution centers and offices on Friday, October 30 to allow team members a brief break amidst this ongoing crisis. During these challenging times, the health and well-being of our communities is a priority. We encourage you and your organizations to find opportunities for self-care so that we can all continue to meet this moment together. Please refer to our October calendar for changes in partner order dates. No mobile pantries are scheduled for Friday, October 30th. All partner deliveries will be rescheduled.

Get Help Page

The Get Help page on the Food Bank of the Rockies website is a neighborhood-based comprehensive list of pantries and meal programs. Thousands of clients rely on https://fbr.convio.net/find-food/ to determine the right location, pick up times, and eligibility requirements. Please look up your program using the tool above to verify that the information listed is accurate. If you would like to make a change to your listing, or do not see your program listed, please fill out this form and email it to Zia at zoneill@foodbankrockies.org.

Inclement Weather Policy During COVID

To aid in our partners’ preparations for winter weather conditions, we have compiled a list of recommendations for winter distributions:

• Instruct staff, volunteers, and clients to perform COVID-19 self-checks including temperature and symptom checks before arriving to work
• Regularly clean and wipe down surfaces
• Have hand sanitizer regularly available and encourage frequent hand washing
• Masks and gloves are required for all volunteers; clients are required to wear masks
• Compile all food boxes inside
• Assess your organization’s ability to serve clients indoors
• Practice social distancing
• Provide hand sanitizer
• Place occupancy limits (one person per household)
• Implement a drive-thru model
• Rotate volunteers moving boxes from inside to cars
• Conduct delivery service for vulnerable clients or establish designated pick up times
• Reduce time clients and volunteers are outdoors in inclement weather
• Implement appointments/time slots
• Regularly rotate volunteers outside (recruit more if necessary)
• Purchase/request donations of heaters or warming tents
• Use Link2Feed and CNCT (see below for info) to speed up client intake
• If clients must come into your pantry, create a call line so that they can wait in their cars until food is ready
• Be sure to alert all clients of changes for winter distribution
• Communicate using your website and social media platforms
• Email Zia at zoneill@foodbankrockies.org with process updates for your listing in the Food Bank of the Rockies Get Help Page

Link2Feed: Announcement of CNCT launch

Link2Feed released a new client check-in feature called CNCT (pronounced “connect”). The feature allows new clients to input their data directly into a Link2Feed form either ahead of their visit or while waiting in line. Utilizing Google Translate, CNCT is also available in the client’s preferred language. CNCT will help reduce check-in time for first time visitors, increase accuracy of data provided, and refine the Link2Feed process for Partners.

To view how CNCT works, check out this demo. To activate CNCT at your organization or learn more about CNCT, contact L2F@foodbankrockies.org.

Link2Feed Newsletter

In an effort to educate partners about the features of Link2Feed, we have launched a monthly Link2Feed newsletter series. If you would like to receive an email with the newsletter, please email L2F@foodbankrockies.org. Please indicate if you are an active Link2Feed member or if you are not yet using Link2Feed.

Link2Feed General Trainings

Link2Feed general trainings are now offered on the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays of each month. Please RSVP and view the upcoming dates here. For more information on Link2Feed, visit the Link2Feed YouTube page.

Pronouns Matter

You may have noticed that many Food Bank of the Rockies team members’ emails now include pronouns. As one step in our commitment to fostering an equitable and inclusive work environment, we are encouraging the use of pronouns in our signatures so that we don’t make assumptions about any team members’ gender identity and have a way of sharing our pronouns with each other. We are also changing all organizational policies to use “they” rather than “he/she” to be more inclusive. See the “What’s This?” link that we include in email signatures as a resource to learn more. And here is an example: 

Erin Pulling
President & CEO 
Pronouns: she/her/hers (What’s This?)

USDA Farmers to Families Food Box Program

The Farmers to Families Food Box program is expected to complete its final phase at the end of October. This program has provided over 500,000 boxes of produce, meat, and dairy products since the end of May. Food Bank of the Rockies has been providing special deliveries to partners with limited refrigeration. As this program winds down, we are working to raise funds to purchase food to your needs so that we may continue to provide fresh, high quality produce to our partners. We can provide a variety of unmixed items in bulk (30-50 lb boxes or trays) that can be repacked at the point of distribution and plan to offer mixed pallets of produce on a weekly basis. For orders larger than 2 pallets, we hope to continue to provide just-in-time deliveries. Orders greater than 5 pallets will receive a full unmixed pallet of each item. Partners will be able to order mixed produce on Agency Express for their normal pickups or deliveries and shop for produce at the Fresh Food Center. This service is expected to commence at the end of the Farmers to Families Food Box program to minimize interruptions in food distribution.

Trailers Available for Overflow Storage

Food Bank of the Rockies is retiring a number of older trailers. Several have working refrigeration units and could be utilized for overflow storage by a partner. If you have a need for storage and would like to acquire one of these trailers, email relations@foodbankrockies.org.

Featured Post: Mental Health, Well-Being, and Trauma-Informed Care during the COVID-19 Pandemic

While chronic stress and burnout have long been issues for hunger-relief and other organizations, the current crisis highlights the importance of acknowledging the issues, recognizing signs, and understanding the implications of chronic stress and burnout on an organizational and personal level. Read the full article for a list of resources which provide more information on trauma-informed care during COVID-19.