24 selections, $9,6 05 in donations
Since December 2023, Care and Share Food Bank has been selected to benefit from the King Soopers and City Market Fight Hunger bag program 24 times. In total, the organization has received $9,605 in donations to continue distributing fresh and nutritious food to 289 hunger relief partners throughout Southern Colorado.
Tell us about Care and Share Food Bank.
Care and Share Food Bank is the food bank for Southern Colorado. It all started with one idea from our founder, Sister Dominique Pasciate: Nobody should go hungry. This idea is still our mission today. We serve 289 partner agencies, covering 29 counties and 47,000 square miles. The organization started in 1974, so we just turned 50 years old.
We apply for a lot of grants and collect monetary donations from individuals and organizations. We also have partnerships with organizations like Feeding America and companies like Kroger, King Soopers, and City Market. We organize many different campaigns to bring in food and monetary donations. Our goal is to get food out to our partner agencies so that they can distribute it to neighbors who are hungry.
Our goal is to get food out to our partner agencies so that they can distribute it to neighbors who are hungry.
What services do you provide to the community?
Care and Share is a food bank, so we collect as much food and donations as we can. We purchase food by the semi-truck load and turn any monetary donations into food by purchasing from our partner agencies. One dollar can purchase approximately four meals, which equals about five pounds of food. So, we really stretch each dollar a long way. We have various partners throughout Southern Colorado. Volunteers take all that food, sort it, and distribute it to our partner agencies.
How has Care and Share Food Bank used the donations it has received from the King Soopers and City Market Fight Hunger bag program?
Partnerships with King Soopers, City Market, and other for-profit corporations are important for our mission. We can turn any monetary donations into a lot of food. Through partnerships with King Soopers, Kroger, and Feeding America, we are able to purchase food by the semi-truck load.
We get all this food at a wholesale price instead of a retail price, so one dollar can purchase four meals. Stretching each dollar helps us feed so many neighbors. During the last fiscal year, we distributed about 25 million pounds of food, which is equivalent to 21 million meals. We also served about 294,000 people in our area.
During the last fiscal year, we distributed about 25 million pounds of food, which is equivalent to 21 million meals.
Each partnership and campaign is important. They all add up over time. Everybody does their part, and it all comes together at the end of the year.
Tell us a story about a program, service, or initiative that the King Soopers and City Market Fight Hunger bag program has supported.
Yesterday, we were at a food pantry at a church in Manitou Springs, Colorado. The pantry serves a lot of neighbors in the area who are struggling to make ends meet. The people coming to the pantry are working. They are teachers, nurses, and even service members who can’t quite make ends meet with the rise of inflation. Unfortunately, many people forego their food budget to accommodate their fixed costs.
We have heard from neighbors and volunteers that the food we give to pantries is really a lifesaver. The food gets people to their next paycheck, getting them through the lull they might otherwise face. We have seen a couple of really cold weeks this winter with all of the snow. When people turn up the furnace and their gas or electric bills go up, they know they can go to a food pantry and supplement their food budget by getting the nutritious food they need.
We have heard from neighbors and volunteers that the food we give to pantries is really a lifesaver.
At Care and Share Food Bank, we really put an emphasis on nutritious food because we don’t want to cause more health problems by giving out sugary foods. We give out items like watermelon, carrots, and other fresh produce to ensure people get the nutritious food they need.
What advice would you give other organizations participating in the King Soopers and City Market Fight Hunger bag program?
I would encourage other organizations to engage with community media partners like TV stations, radio stations, and newspapers. It’s great to always combine your campaigns with media partnerships.
Don’t forget to post on social media as well because that’s one way we really reach the younger crowd. We also do a lot of email campaigns to get the word out.
Interview with Adam Uhernik, Marketing and Communications Director