The 2024-25 ski season looked a little different this year for residents of Steamboat Springs: For the first time, Food Bank of the Rockies collaborated with Steamboat Ski Resort to host a series of pop-up mobile pantries for community members in the area.
The initiative was made possible through a generous donation from Alterra Mountain Company Community Foundation and aimed to reduce the nourishment gap faced by people living in Steamboat Springs. According to a study from the Economic Policy Institute, rural Colorado is home to the most extreme income inequality in the state, with the key factor appearing to be whether a county has a destination ski resort within its borders. The counties home to Aspen, Telluride, Steamboat Springs, and Vail are where the most severe gap in income — and, as a result, gap in food security — is present.
The first Steamboat Springs mobile pantry event took place in December 2024 and involved Food Bank of the Rockies providing enough food for more than 3,700 nourishing meals. The third and final pop-up mobile pantry event for the season will take place on February 21 from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m at the Steamboat Ski Resort Meadows parking lot (near the Wildhorse Gondola). The event will have enough food to support 300 households, including a selection of proteins, produce, and shelf-stable items. Some of the items at the first two distributions included chicken, beef, rice, black beans, green chili, corn, corn tortillas, and shredded cheese.
Food Bank of the Rockies’ mobile pantries are typically set up as a drive-thru format, where a semi-truck full of food is brought directly to the community and volunteers help unload, package, and place the food into people’s vehicles. In Steamboat Springs, the mobile pantry is strategically placed in a location that allows the resort’s shuttle service to transport food directly to Steamboat Ski Resort team members and staff who need assistance.
The level of food insecurity across the nation and in our region is the highest we’ve seen in 10 years; in Routt County, where Steamboat Springs is located, 1 in 10 people experiences food insecurity. By increasing access to food resources, Food Bank of the Rockies aims to alleviate some of the pressure people may be experiencing.
Our Hunger Relief Partners in Steamboat and across Routt County do an incredible job making sure no one has to worry about where their next meal is coming from. By adding another access point for food assistance, we’re aiming to provide extra support for our partners as they continue to meet the community’s needs, especially during the winter months. These pop-up mobile pantries also serve as a pilot program for the Food Bank to explore and evaluate long-term, collaborative solutions to food insecurity in resort mountain communities across the Western Slope.
