Foodnet receives $45,000 grant to aid COVID-19 response

Foodnet Meals on Wheels, a local nonprofit that distributes meals to elderly county residents, recently received a $45,000 grant from its national affiliate, Meals on Wheels America. The funds will go a long way toward helping support Foodnet’s COVID-19 response efforts, according to Foodnet Executive Director Jessica Gosa.

Funding will be used to purchase and install an external freezer to increase food storage capacity, replenish food and supplies for additional emergency meals, and subsidize meal delivery equipment and personal protective equipment, according to a recent press release.

The $45,000 grant is part of a needs-based grant program through Meals on Wheels America, which has distributed over $31 million directly to local Meals on Wheels programs across the country since the pandemic hit.

“The program is a COVID relief response grant,” Gosa said. “It’s really to make sure that programs like us can keep operating and manage the increases in demand of service that all of us have been experiencing.”

Foodnet has experienced an almost 12% increase in service demand overall since the pandemic hit back in March, Gosa explained, and with COVID-19 cases rising across the country just as flu season begins, she and other staff members expect demand to increase even more as they get into winter.

Throughout the pandemic, Foodnet has provided a variety of services to residents, including delivering frozen emergency meal packs that ensure folks have the food they need even if services are interrupted by the pandemic. Gosa said that some of the grant funds will help give emergency meal packs to any clients who need them.

“We anticipate with this funding we’ll probably throughout the pandemic deliver out another 7,000 emergency meals,” she said. “Being able to distribute folks a pack of emergency meals is very helpful if somebody is isolating or quarantining because they have COVID … or they’ve been exposed to COVID. So, we’re able to say, ‘OK, what we can do is deliver out a 14-day supply of meals for you to have and bring into your home, and then we can replenish that if needed.’”

Part of ensuring Foodnet always has emergency meals on hand is having the space to store excess supply, which is where the external freezer comes in. Gosa said the freezer will ensure Foodnet is prepared if it experiences another 40% increase in services like it did in March.

“Our kitchen is mighty, but it’s small,” Gosa said. “There’s not another place to put an internal freezer, so we came up with that we could do an external walk-in freezer that will be able to supply the extra storage of these additional meals. So, with having this external freezer space, we’re going to be able to really keep up with the demand and also be able to handle another spike.”

Another plus to the freezer, Gosa said, is that it will likely prove useful long after the pandemic.

“What’s so wonderful is, if we ever reach a place where the pandemic is actually in our rearview mirror, the freezer will serve as a backup storage space,” she said. “So, if one of our internal freezers went down, we have a freezer to store additional food.”

Foodnet has also seen increases in general costs, like for gloves and other PPE, which the grant will also help supplement.

“It’s such a blessing and quite honestly a relief,” she said. “I keep saying that these funds are going to help me sleep better at night. Knowing that we’re going to be able to have such an extensive emergency plan in place is great.”

While the grant will go a long way toward forwarding Foodnet’s efforts, Gosa said the organization is still facing its fair share of challenges. Planning the 2021 budget, for example, has been difficult due to the uncertainty of the future of government funding.

“We’re really trying to think about what our government funding is going to look like,” she said. “Foodnet is heavily reliant on government funding, and so, we’ve built a budget and then three contingency plans. And, in many ways, building the budget this year felt like building it blindfolded because, quite honestly, we don’t know how stable some of the government funding will be in New York state.”

Despite the challenges, Foodnet has worked to ensure it meets the needs of the community. TCOFA Director Lisa Monroe said that Foodnet’s grant is a testament to how important Foodnet has been for the community through the pandemic, which has been a challenging time for both organizations’ clients.

“The pandemic has amplified the need for Foodnet’s services,” she said. “By age alone, older adults are vulnerable for poor health outcomes from COVID-19. This project will strengthen Foodnet’s ability to respond to another anticipated surge in demand for services during the fall and winter months.”

And the holidays have only amplified this need, as clients are experiencing more isolation and loneliness.

“We’re all feeling some of that, but many of our clients live alone,” Gosa said. “Not having maybe loved ones that would normally be able to come visit over the holidays is hard. And we’re doing contactless delivery, which doesn’t give us a great opportunity to interact and have that human, in-person connection that we would normally have.”

Gosa said that Foodnet staff and volunteers have been crucial all through the pandemic, and they remain dedicated to the organization’s mission.

“I am constantly impressed by their stamina,” she said. “Everyone in the country is so tired of this. But I think what really drives my staff here is the mission. People at this organization care so deeply about our community and the people we serve, so their commitment to just keep showing up and walk through this when there’s so much uncertainty is amazing.”

And community members have also made a large difference this year, Gosa said.

“The community has been very generous to us this year with donations,” she said. “We’re definitely seeing gifts coming our way for the work that we’re doing and a lot of words of encouragement to keep going and to be strong and reminding my staff how critical they are. And so, I think all of that has been very inspirational. And it really gives us a deep appreciation for how much words matter.”

Foodnet intends to continue providing services without a waiting list during this critical time. Contributions to Foodnet Meals on Wheels are gratefully accepted at any time. More information about how to support Foodnet can be found at www.foodnet.org.