LOCALadk Magazine

50 Summer 2020 LOCALadk Magazine LOCALadk Adk Action's Februar y board meeting was, in hindsight, rather routine: leaders of the organization's key projects— the Adirondack Pollinator Project, Road Salt Reduction, Universal Broadband, and Local Food Access—made presen- tations, and plans were made for summer programs. Adk- Action's staff (Executive Director Brittany Christenson and Community Outreach Coordinator Hannah Grall) left the meeting and began developing program plans and budgets. Remarkably, there was little or no discussion of COVID -19 at that meeting. By mid-March, it had become clear that the organization could not—and should not— continue to work solely on its existing projects. Communities across the region were be- ginning to feel a seismic shift rippling out from COVID's stronghold in New York City, and it was time to focus on is- sues related to the regional impacts of the developing pan- demic. We knew a major pivot was necessar y. In keeping with its mission to "create projects that address unmet needs, promote vibrant communities, and preser ve the character of the Adirondacks," staff members began brainstorming new projects to address the immediate community needs due to COVID -19. Brittany Christenson, with deep roots in the local farming community, began thinking about how best to address two major challenges: the increased food insecurity in the North Countr y due to the public health crisis and related unem- ployment, and the issues faced by local farmers who had lost many of their traditional wholesale markets. Adk Action's Farmacy project, launched in 2017 in Keeseville and replicat- ed at Mountain Weaver's Farm Store in Port Henr y in 2019, had been successful in bringing local farm produce into rural food deserts. Our staff began thinking about how to expand the Farmacy model to address these two related challenges. They quickly focused on a project to bring fresh local farm food directly to impacted families. But partners would be needed—to handle and manage the purchase of local food from farmers, to prepare and deliver emergency food pack- ages, and to identif y the households in need. After several "Emergency Food Response" meetings with partners including Essex County Health Department, Essex County Office for the Aging, Adk Action, Cornell Cooperative Extension of Essex County, and The Hub on the Hill, a na- scent project plan was developed. The Hub on the Hill, a local farm market and industrial kitchen in Essex, New York, had the facilities, expertise, and capacity to cook, pack and de- liver food packages. Adk Action would design a food package and create a prototype, launch a fundraising campaign, and coordinate with partners to identif y people in need of the food. The Emergency Food Package (EFP) project was born. Each Emergency Food Package would contain the follow- ing items prepared from products grown by local farmers: two pans of cooked meals (to be delivered frozen), a quart of frozen soup, a dozen fresh organic eggs, yogurt, a loaf of bread, granola, fresh greens, apples, and snacks—the equivalent of 15 meals. Adk Action would launch a fundrais- ing campaign to pay for all the food purchased directly from farmers, as well as the labor for food preparation at the Hub on the Hill, packaging and deliver y to households. An initial cost estimate of $55 per package was developed. In order to identif y households facing food insecurity during this challenging time, Adk Action staff met with Unit- ed Way staff to get advice on how to best identif y organi- zations that could recommend households in need. Kathy Snow from United Way put the team in contact with the Joint Council for Economic Opportunity, Adirondack Communi- ty Action Program, and Community Connections. All three quickly agreed to partner on the important process of identi- f ying the households in need and screening referrals. The Executive Committee of Adk Action enthusiastically supported the new project idea presented by its staff and then worked to develop a full project model and plan. Over a series of long phone calls during the third week of March, it was decided to launch an ambitious EFP program goal of providing 100 meals per week for 10 weeks through June 16, or 1000 meals, at a total cost of $55,000. The plan was to focus on deliveries to families in Clinton, Essex, and Frank- lin counties. The comprehensive project proposal was unani- mously approved at an Adk Action Emergency Board meeting held on March 30. It was an ideal fit with important aspects of Adk Action's mission by addressing the food insecurity experienced by local families, supporting the local farming community, and providing employment for a number of peo- ple in the area. At the time, it was widely believed that the $55,000 was ambitious but achievable over the 10 -week period of the project. The EFP project program and fundraising page were launched the next day, March 31. The project was announced via an email to members of Adk Action and subscribers and posted on social media. One hundred percent of the funds raised would be used for the purchase of food from farm- ers and labor costs of the Hub on the Hill. To kick start the fundraising, all 16 board members of Adk Action and the two staff donated themselves. and the Special and Urgent Needs (SUN) Fund of the Adirondack Foundation provided an initial AdkAction Board Members Tell the Story of the Emergency Food Package Project by Steve Maikowski and Ruth Smith

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