face, sn,The Summer Food Program is a collaborative effort of over 20 partner agencies that provides healthy, nutritious produce and shelf-stable food to children and families in Yancey County. In July and August of this year, the program provided 5 weeks of food assistance to 158 families (including 283 children). This was made possible thanks to 128 volunteer hours and 405 hours of partner staff time.
In previous years, food was only delivered to the doorsteps of families. Due to the increase in emergency food needs as a result of COVID-19, we partnered with Yancey County Schools and expanded the Summer Food Program this year to include families who were picking up school meals. These additional school families were able to pick up free, five-day food packs provided by Yancey County Schools, as well as produce offered through the Summer Food Program. This partnership allowed the program to support 50 additional families during the summer months.
Due to the pandemic, partner agencies relied on internal support from staff and volunteers to ensure socially-distanced and safe packing, delivery, and pick-up of food items, snacks, and resources to families outside of the school program. Additional protocols such as face masks, temperature checks, and regular hand washing and use of hand sanitizer were put into place to ensure the safety of all. We missed our usual, larger workforce of volunteers from local churches and other community partner agencies, but hope to see them next summer!
Deliveries included fresh and local produce that was grown and donated by Dig In! Yancey Community Garden, grown and purchased directly from local farms, and also purchased through TRACTOR Food and Farms. Food staples were provided through MANNA FoodBank by Reconciliation House. Student-friendly snack items were provided by Feed-A-Child Yancey County. Excitingly, 7,600 pounds of fresh produce were delivered to participants. This included 13 different types of fruits and vegetables. A participant shared the effect that the Summer Food Program had on her family saying, “It is the first time my kid had a large variety of garden fresh veggies.”
Not only does the program help feed hungry families over the summer, but it helped one mom begin cooking at home more and sharing meals with her neighbor to ensure none of the produce went to waste, “The cooking thing hasn’t been at the forefront but getting the fresh stuff put me back into cooking. My neighbor and I are close and we hang out and make dinner together. We made this really good cabbage and kielbasa from stuff we got.”
In addition to fresh produce, deliveries included reusable, cloth facemasks, toothbrushes, toothpaste, floss, soap, feminine hygiene products, medication safety items such as personal medication lock boxes, and other health items. Children’s books were also provided in the deliveries, thanks to Reconciliation House, Yancey Library, and community donors. “The girls were very excited and we felt like it was Christmas as we unpacked the bags,” a participant said about opening the family’s delivery each week.
The Yancey Summer Food Program received critical funding from Mountain Air Community Fund, Yancey County Government, and generous contributions from the local community, including the donation of re-usable grocery bags from Ingles Markets. This funding helped to meet the increased need for food due to the effects of COVID-19.
This program would not be possible without the support of our funders, the participation of our many community partners and agencies, the dedication and time of our volunteers, and the skilled and invested coordination of the program Steering Committee, made up of Partners Aligned Toward Health, Dig In! Yancey Community Garden, Reconciliation House, and TRACTOR Food and Farms.
