Volunteers Still Needed For Food Response

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

July 16, 2020

Kingston, NY - Volunteers are still needed to deliver, schedule, and support the organizing for the Kingston Emergency Food Collaborative. To sign up, follow this link bit.ly/kefcvolunteer.

The Kingston Emergency Food Collaborative (KEFC) was launched in response to the COVID-19 “NY on Pause” closure of schools. Starting at the onset of the pandemic, multiple organizations came together to remove barriers to food access and ensure that members of our community have food.

Organizations and individuals have supported this work in a variety of ways: some were able to dedicate staff time, gave advice, supplied food, or became distribution centers. Participating organizations have included, but aren’t limited to: A.J. Williams-Myers African Roots Center, Catholic Charities, The City of Kingston, Cornell Cooperative of Ulster County, Exago Inc., Family of Woodstock, Hudson Valley Farm Hub, The Kingston City School District, Kingston Food Coop, The Kingston YMCA Farm Project, Land to Learn, Live Well Kingston, People’s Place, Rise Up Kingston, UlsterCorps, Ulster County Community Action, Wild Earth, and The YMCA of Kingston & Ulster County.

In addition to these organizations, the KEFC has overwhelmingly been a volunteer-supported initiative. Management of multiple distribution sites, sorting and packing food, scheduling deliveries, handling the hotline, outreach calls, scheduling volunteers, and delivering meals and groceries, has all been accomplished by volunteers.

This work started with meals prepared by the Family of Woodstock’s Everette Hodge Community Center, and then with the support of Ulster County’s Project Resilience which supplied 43,885 meals from restaurants to residents in the City of Kingston, we were able to ramp up efforts and get meals to more community members. Additional meals not funded from Project Resilience were supplied from Savona's Plaza Pizza, Wilde Beest, The Kingston City School District, and Diamond Mills.

To date, the KEFC has delivered groceries and prepared food that equated to over 305,226 total meals to more than 4,306 people.

This program, which was meant to be a limited emergency response, has continued due to the extended effect of the pandemic. The Hudson Valley Food Bank has reported that food insecurity has risen from 9% to 13% during this time in the Hudson Valley Region.

Limited meal and grocery delivery are continuing in partnership with Family of Woodstock, Inc. at the City of Kingston’s Everette Hodge Community Center, People’s Place, and Catholic Charities. The KEFC is currently looking for volunteers to deliver groceries and meals from these partners and manage a hotline and database of food requests. To sign up, follow this link bit.ly/kefcvolunteer

In addition to these efforts, the KEFC is having conversations about how to increase food security and reduce barriers to food in the City of Kingston over the long term. Individuals and organizations are invited to participate. COVID-19 has affected the most vulnerable and shined a light on food insecurity. The Hudson Valley Food Bank has reported that previous food insecurity levels affected by the 2008 recession took about a decade to come back up to the baseline. Feeding America reports that in 2018 there were 18,870, or 10.5% of Ulster County residents, were food insecure. The KEFC is working to address the immediate need and to eliminate this need in future.