October 2023 Partner Newsletter

Welcome

Welcome to the Insights and Impact Division of Food Bank of the Rockies!

Our division mission, “Empowering Communities through Knowledge and Innovation,” underscores our commitment to cultivating an environment where data drives our decisions and innovation paves the way to support your work. We immerse ourselves in extensive research and community data to foster an impact that resonates at all levels.

With a vision of “A Future of Nourished Communities Built on Equity, Understanding, and Collective Action,” we imagine a world where every community is nourished and resilient. We’re here to reflect, support, and create opportunities, always grounded in equity, diversity, and inclusion principles.

Our Core Values:

Empathy and Understanding: Going beyond data to understand our communities.
Innovation and Strategy: Being agile and adaptive to best serve our communities.
Equity and Inclusion: Constantly addressing and challenging systemic barriers to food access.
Collaboration and Partnership: Amplifying voices and accelerating collective action.
Integrity and Accountability: Ensuring transparent and responsible stewardship.

To accomplish this work, our division is composed of various teams with a unique focus:

Research and Evaluation: Concentrating on program evaluations and digging deep into the root causes of food insecurity, supporting the essential facets of reporting, and organizational data interpretation.
Community Data: An emphasis on collecting data across our territories and strategizing with our partners for effective implementation.
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging: Spearheading initiatives focused on education and skill development to foster an inclusive environment.
Strategy and Innovation: At the helm of strategic planning and goal tracking, ensuring our organizational vision is always within sight.

Through our efforts, the Insights and Impact Division aims to drive and support change, ensuring a more equitable future for all of the communities we serve.

Stay tuned as we dive deeper, share insights, and update you on our work!

Warm Regards,

Melinda Day, Ph.D., MPH
Chief Impact Officer
Insights and Impact Division

Important Dates

November 7 – Orientation at 10:00 a.m.
November 11 – Partner Support: Open Saturday 9:00 a.m.–11:30 a.m.
November 16 – Orientation at 1:00 p.m.
November 21 – Orders accepted for pick-up on November 27 until 3:00 p.m.
November 22 – Orders accepted for pick-up on November 28 until 3:00 p.m.
November 23 – Food Bank of the Rockies is closed for Thanksgiving
November 24 – Food Bank of the Rockies is closed for Thanksgiving
November 30 – Food Bank of the Rockies is closing early! Pickups and Fresh Food Center available until 11:00 a.m.

To sign up for Orientation or for questions about any of the dates above, contact partnersupport@foodbankrockies.org. For our full, detailed calendars please click here.

Advocacy/Policy Update

Welcome, Mandy Nuku!

Feeding Colorado is pleased to announce the hiring of our new Government Relations Director, Mandy Nuku, who joined us in August 2023.

Mandy brings years of experience in the non-profit sector and government relations field with a strong focus on grassroots policy advocacy. Mandy has most recently worked in the health policy space, focused on early childhood home-visiting programs. Mandy is passionate about elevating the voices of people closest to the work and people with lived experience as part of her advocacy and policy work. Mandy holds a master’s degree in politics and public policy from the University of Colorado at Denver, and a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Colorado-Boulder.

Mandy joins Feeding Colorado to further the organization’s goals of raising awareness of the issue of hunger and to leverage the resources of Colorado’s robust agricultural, manufacturing, and retail industries to benefit people experiencing food insecurity in Colorado and Wyoming. We are excited to have her on our team!

You can contact Mandy at mnuku@feedingcolorado.org.

Feeding Colorado on the Hill

This September, Feeding Colorado visited with the Colorado Congressional delegation in Washington, D.C., with over 100 other Feeding America partners. We advocated for a Farm Bill with strong programs like SNAP and TEFAP that support people experiencing hunger. Thanks to all the offices that met with Feeding Colorado!

Feeding Colorado Network in the News

Check out this article from Colorado Newsline that highlights the increased need for food assistance programs and how Congress can help our network meet this need in our communities.

Farm Bill

The Farm Bill is due to be reauthorized later this year. Check out Feeding America’s Farm Bill Legislation Watch Page, which includes our network’s Farm Bill priorities, fast facts, and an overview of this important legislation. Feeding Colorado continues to engage with our Congressional Delegation to promote the network’s priorities in the Farm Bill!

Get Involved!

Are you interested in sharing why you care about fighting hunger with members of the Colorado legislature? Email Sarah Mason at Feeding Colorado (sgregory@feedingcolorado.org) to learn more about opportunities to engage in public policy work!

Program Updates

Program Contacts Updated

We know that reaching the right contact at Food Bank of the Rockies makes all the difference when you have questions about our programs, placing orders, or letting us know about changes in your services. We also know that, due to our frequent staffing changes, this can be challenging. Please know that we update our contact list as quickly as possible. You can find that list in our monthly newsletter at the top of the page, as well as on the Partner Portal.

Partner Support

Click to view Thanksgiving food options

Colorado Emergency Funds (CEF) – Free Food Items Available to Partners

We are five months into making food items available to partners at no cost through Colorado Emergency Funds (CEF) and are so excited about everything we’ve done together in utilizing the $5.4 million in CEF received at the end of May! We continue to procure food items based on feedback received from our partners in the Partner Network meetings held last spring.

Thanks to the input from partners:

37 items have been made available
1,803,997 lbs. of CEF product have been distributed to our neighbors
363 partners have participated in the CEF program

Have you been ordering your allocation of free items? Partners should search Agency Express for items labeled as CEF when placing orders. These are items available to our partners at no fee. To ensure equitable access for our neighbors, we will limit the amount of CEF free products each organization can order. When you see the CEF items on the shopping list, the quantity you see is YOUR allocation. Don’t miss out – order it up! We will continue to make products available until funding is expended or through June 30, 2024. Please contact Partner Support with any questions about the CEF ordering process or the items available: partnersupport@foodbankrockies.org

Unraveling the Connection: Domestic Violence and Food Insecurity Workshop – a Virtual Special Event Presented by Food Bank of the Rockies and Food Bank of Wyoming

Domestic violence and food insecurity are two social issues that often intersect in complex ways and affect countless lives. Despite the grave impact on people’s lives caused by these issues, the connection between them isn’t always obvious. If you want to understand this relationship better and learn how to help, this workshop is for you!

Did You Know?

1 in 3 women and 1 in 4 men in the United States have experienced some form of physical violence by an intimate partner. However, these statistics are believed to be underreported.
In Colorado, 36.8% of women and 30.5% of men experience intimate partner violence or stalking at some point in their lives.
In Wyoming, 33.9% of women and 30.5% of men experience such violence or stalking.

Event Details

Date: October 24, 2023 (Virtual)
Time: 2:00 p.m.-3:00 p.m. MT
Audience: Open to all Hunger Relief Partners, volunteers, and staff
Special Guest: Rita Smith

Rita Smith is a nationally recognized expert in domestic violence who has been interviewed by hundreds of newspaper reporters and appeared on many local and national radio and television news shows, including the Washington Post, USA Today, People Magazine, NPR, The Today Show, Good Morning America, and the Oprah Winfrey Show. She began her career in 1981 as a shelter crisis line advocate. She ascended to lead the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (NCADV) from 1992-2014, where she established the original relationship between DomesticShelters.org and NCADV. Rita doubles as a consultant to the non-profit 501(c)3 Theresa’s Fund Inc., which operates DomesticShelters.org. Smith is a senior advisor to the National Football League on policy and training issues related to domestic violence and sexual assault.

Registration Link: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMsc-2uqjIiE9N2kTzVIoV1CtUVgvUxfwdn

What Will You Learn?

The multi-layered relationship between domestic violence and food insecurity
How domestic violence can lead to heightened food insecurity, especially for women and children
How food insecurity can fuel domestic violence, adding stress and tension to already-vulnerable households
Strategies to support victims of abuse, including identifying signs and offering local resources

This workshop will equip you with the knowledge and tools to support our neighbors. Together, we can make a difference in the fight against domestic violence and food insecurity.

Don’t miss out on this virtual learning opportunity!

Government Programs

All USDA Programs Update

Religiously affiliated TEFAP and EverGreen Box™, a program of Everyday Eats, partners are no longer required to post the Written Notice of Beneficiary Rights or the Beneficiary Referral Request. You will still need to adhere to 7 CFR 16. However, the additional posting requirement has been terminated.

Proof of insurance is now a requirement. Please reach out to your government program contact if you have any questions. You’ll find the right person to contact here.

EverGreen Boxes™, A Program of Everyday Eats

Thank you to everyone who joined us for the Quarterly Sessions on September 18 and September 28 to review updated insurance guidelines for partners involved in USDA programs. We are so grateful for the opportunity to share in this learning process and be your advocate amid these changes. We have also included the session’s slides for your review.

CSFP Quarterly Training- 9.18.23

Our team is available to you for questions or concerns. Feel free to contact Britni Stupin, Government Programs Manager, EverGreen Boxes™, at bstupin@foodbankrockies.org.

We are also excited to announce we released our Neighbor Preferences Survey for the program! We invite you all to share it with your participating neighbors so we can better tailor our food orders and nutritional education content.

EverGreen Boxes™, a Program of Everyday Eats, Neighbor Survey: https://feedingamerica.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_1XDAKqzMma7otwy

Encuesta de Vecinos de EverGreen Boxes™, a Program of Everyday Eats: https://feedingamerica.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_6Qona1zUK0ABEW2

Food for Kids Update

Reminder about Totes of Hope™ Communication

This is a friendly reminder for any Totes of Hope™ partners to please email our Food for Kids email (FFK@foodbankrockies.org) with questions, concerns, or feedback. Our entire Food for Kids team has access to this general inbox, and it will allow for consistency in communication should anyone be out of the office.

We’re Hiring!

The Food for Kids Totes of Hope™ Representative position has been posted on our website! You can find job postings under the “About” section” and selecting “Join Our Team” from the drop-down menu. You can also access the link here. Please pass along this opportunity to anyone you think may be interested!

Nutrition Update

We are excited to welcome the first class of students in the VA Eastern Colorado Health Care System’s Dietetic Internship Program (DIP)! Through our partnership with DIP, we will host interns as they develop knowledge and skills in community nutrition to help them earn their registered dietitian nutritionist credentials. We were honored to work with one of DIP’s first students, Lauren DeAngelis, in August and September.

During her time with us, Lauren collaborated with staff from our Outreach and Community Kitchen teams to implement a virtual, culinary nutrition class for participants enrolled in our Healthcare Box Program. Together, the team delivered promotional materials, a nutrition education presentation, a live culinary demo, and a class evaluation to engage with program participants. We appreciated Lauren’s neighbor-centered approach and look forward to future projects with DIP students.

Neighbor Resources

Open Position Spotlight

We are hiring for a Culturally Responsive Food Initiative Representative!

The Culturally Responsive Food Initiative Representative will focus on collecting feedback from food pantry users from a wide range of cultures as well as collecting feedback from our food pantry partners, community organizations as well as state, local and partner databases. This role will help identify trends in this feedback and coordinate responses such as developing recommended food lists and educational material and coordinating with internal staff to facilitate culturally responsive practices. The ideal candidate will have experience collecting feedback from a wide range of audiences, practice creative problem solving, have thoughtful communication skills and have a passion for food banking and/or equity.

For full job postings and to see all opportunities with Food Bank of Rockies, please visit foodbankrockies.org/about/join-our-team.

Food Bank of the Rockies is an equal opportunity employer and offers paid time off, health, dental, and 401(k) benefits.

Already registered? Sign in