Welcome Letter
Summer is here and with it come opportunities for us to come together for picnics, family celebrations, baseball, and fireworks – most of which are associated with food. This summer also has brought the highest rate of inflation since 1980, impacting all of our spending patterns and especially those of our neighbors experiencing poverty. We salute your work to distribute free, nourishing food to ensure that everyone in our communities has enough to eat. This is important work and it is an honor to work alongside you to make it happen.
I enjoy the opportunity to see the many creative ways that our resilient network of partners is responding to community needs through outreach, hospitality, and caring. I had the chance recently to be with several partners who were helping with the legal identification process, SNAP enrollment, on-site meals, health screening, and budget coaching, along with a range of other services. It was inspiring to see their passion for the work and also to have a supporting role in caring for community neighbors.
During the past year we have worked to expand delivery throughout our service area to reduce the number of partners having to come to our locations to pick up food. We have also launched a number of hubs where we are doing weekly deliveries at locations that are convenient for our partners. We hope to continue expanding these weekly hubs so that all of you are able to distribute more fresh produce, and we are exploring ideas about how to make this work better in rural communities. The amount of produce available to our community is a key contributor to nutritious diets and Food Bank of the Rockies is committed to improving access to fresh items.
Thank you for caring and serving!
Steve Kullberg
Chief Operating Officer
New Onboarding Experience
Hunger Relief Partner Ambassador Program
We are developing a strong, interactive partner onboarding experience during the first 6 months of partnership. The intention is to provide our new Hunger Relief Partners the support to ask questions, learn from other partners, and overcome barriers.
We kicked off this program with a Town Hall including our three new Ambassadors: Colorado Health Network, Metro Ministries, and Community Ministry Southwest.
In the coming weeks, we will solidify this program and fully implement it with the help of our Hunger Relief Partners and Ambassadors!
Partner Support Posters
Posters Available Now!
Don’t forget to get a new Partner Support Poster ! We have three designs to choose from. They can be picked up from Partner Support at the same time as orders.
To our rural partners: You should have already received them. Let us know if you still need one: partnersupport@foodbankrockies.org.
Thank you for your partnership. We appreciate you!
Important Dates
- Tuesday, August 9: Virtual partner orientation at 10:00 a.m.
- Wednesday, August 10: Link2Feed Training 9:00 a.m.
- Saturday, August 13: Open 9:00 a.m.–11:30 a.m.
- Thursday, August 25: Link2Feed Training 12:00 p.m.
- Thursday, August 25: Virtual partner orientation 1:00 p.m.
- Wednesday, August 31: Closed at 12:00 p.m.
Please visit the August Calendar for the full schedule. For our full calendar of important dates, please refer to the 2022 calendar. If you have any questions, please contact our Partner Support Team at partnersupport@foodbankrockies.org.
Compliance Reminder
Food Bank of the Rockies requires all partners to complete Food Safety and Civil Rights training on an annual basis beginning July 1, 2022. The Food Safety training helps ensure that families facing hunger receive only nutritious, safe-to-consume food from Food Bank of the Rockies. Additionally, Food Bank of the Rockies requires partners to complete the Civil Rights training annually to ensure fair and equitable distribution of food to our communities.
Any new or existing partners who have taken the course after March 23, 2022, will be in compliance for this year.
This year, Food Bank of the Rockies launched a new online platform called LEARN from NeoGov. Food Safety and Civil Rights courses will be taken through this new platform.
All partner contacts and shoppers received an activation email at the end of March. If you have not activated your NeoGov account, these emails were re-sent on June 24. The activation email comes from the email address “donotreply@neogov.com” and is only valid for 5 days. If you did not activate your account, please contact Partner Support so we can resend it.
The Food Safety and Civil Rights courses must be completed by at least one representative from your organization by July 31, 2022. If your organization does not complete the Food Safety and Civil Rights courses by July 31, your Partner Account will be put on hold and you will be unable to order or receive food until those courses are completed.
Visit the Partner Portal for more information and instructions on how to access the training: foodbankrockies.org/partner-portal/partner-training.
Please reach out to partnersupport@foodbankrockies.org with any questions.
Link2Feed Language Benefits
¿Hablas español?
Are language barriers a challenge to conducting client intake? Do you lack bilingual staff and volunteers? With Link2Feed, users have access to a variety of multilingual resources to support cross-cultural communications. Link2Feed agencies and users can utilize a library of intake and informational documents that support more than 10 languages and an online client registration portal available in all languages supported by Google translate. As a bonus, the upcoming Link2Feed release will provide Spanish-language assistance to all users to respectfully and appropriately gather data from Spanish-speaking clients.
Don’t let language be a barrier to your clients’ accessing food; email L2F@foodbankrockies.org to learn more today.
New Staffing Announcements
SNAP Outreach
Sam Alexander is the new SNAP Outreach Representative, working out of the Denver Distribution Center. Sam’s hobbies include spending time outside and rock climbing. He is happy anywhere there are mountains, has a goal of baking bread at least once a week, and is currently seeking new recipes and music recommendations. Welcome, Sam!
Partner Support Representative
Brett Bertok is the new Partner Support Representative, working out of the Denver Distribution Center. He recently graduated from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville and enjoys cooking, reading, watching movies, and exploring. He looks forward to meeting the incredible folks who fight hunger on the front lines every day. Welcome, Brett!
Government Programs Manager
Britni Stupin is the new Government Programs Manager, working out of the Nome Distribution Center. A newcomer to Denver, Britni lives with her cat, Eugene, and enjoys hiking and camping. She graduated from St. Lawrence University with a degree in global studies and minors in public health and African studies, and aspires to visit all 63 National Parks. Welcome, Britni!
Partner Highlight: The Action Center
Summer is finally here and that means our Hunger Relief Partners are busy coordinating summer food distribution programs. One program in particular, Jeffco Summer of Early Learning (JSEL), provides food to low-income families who have children enrolled in summer learning programs.
JSEL is offered by The Action Center, a Colorado-based nonprofit that has been providing community services since 1968, and is made possible through the partnership of the Jeffco Schools Foundation and the financial support of Community First Foundation. Every Friday from June 10 through July 15, partner organizations pick up food from The Action Center and distribute it to 16 schools throughout Jefferson County. Each school has between 20‒110 households that pick up food every week.
The Action Center coordinates distribution for half of the schools with the following partners: IFCS, Kiwanis Club of Columbine, Benefits in Action, BGoldn, Waterstone Pantry, Lakewood Church of Christ, Lakewood United Methodist Church, and Jeffco Eats. Community Table, Kaizen Food Rescue, and Mountain Resource Center independently coordinate distribution for the other eight schools served by JSEL.
And we can’t forget about the volunteers! JSEL’s success relies on an incredible crew of volunteers who provide invaluable support by packing food bags/boxes and loading vehicles. Thank you to all of the partners and volunteers who are making this year’s JSEL program a success!
At Food Bank of the Rockies, we are very proud of our Hunger Relief Partner, and would like to continue highlighting the impactful programs being offered by you. Please reach out to our Partner Support team at partnersupport@foodbankrockies.org if you would like your program to be considered for a future newsletter.
Career Opportunities
Join Our Team
Food Bank of the Rockies works to make food security a reality for families in Colorado and Wyoming. Working here is more than “just a job.” If working to alleviate hunger sounds like the way you’d like to spend your workday, apply for one of our open opportunities here!
Food Bank of the Rockies is an equal opportunity employer and offers paid time off, health, dental, and 401K benefits.
Position Spotlight
Programs Outreach Representative
The position is an integral member of the Food Bank of the Rockies Programs team and is to serve as an ambassador in assigned areas, building awareness of hunger and encouraging collaboration among community groups involved in poverty relief. In addition, this position is responsible for achieving and maintaining Feeding America’s compliance requirements and attaining significant progress towards reducing the meal gap. To accomplish these objectives, this position serves as a liaison with county contacts and partners in key geographic areas of Colorado to increase their food distribution capacity. To learn more or to apply visit our website.
This institution is an equal opportunity provider.
