COVID-19 Resource Page
UPDATED: 9/20/20
To donate to Harvest Against Hunger, click here.
UPDATE:
From April through June, HAH, in partnership with WA State Dept. of Agriculture, expended $120,000 in funding to help hunger relief organizations to quickly expand capacity to safely handle and distribute perishable foods using our refrigerated capacity grant program model
Starting July 1, we have expanded the refrigerated capacity rebate program with an additional $110,000 in funding. To learn more and apply for funding, please visit our capacity rebate page. To date, we’ve received requests for $58,000 of rebates – most from small local food pantries and feeding organizations in rural areas around Washington state.
HAH developed a new survey tool to help WA State Department of Agriculture to determine overall hunger relief system refrigerated storage capacity. Data from this survey helped to secure more than $3 million in special COVID-19 relief funding to help make urgent improvements statewide.
Our new partnership with PCC Community Markets and Neighborhood Farmers Markets is connecting local farmers with local food banks. To date, more than $100,000 in new partner contracts have been executed to link farmers with local food bank and meal programs.
HAH delivered 25,000 surgical masks (non-KN95) for volunteer and staff use at food banks across Washington.
Core Work: we continue to source truckloads of fresh produce — including loads of potatoes and onions from eastern WA growers — that are available as a result of the many restaurant closures in that state.
We have expanded our 2020 Farm to Food Pantry initiative to provide additional funding to farmers who have been impacted by market and restaurant closures. Crops are beginning to be delivered to families and individuals through their local hunger relief programs..
HAH is tapping into our trucking donor network to help move additional loads of food between hunger relief partners across Washington. In the past month, truckers have donated more than 6,500 miles of service.
How you can help
UPDATE: VOLUNTEERS NEEDED!
Food banks across Washington are re-working their distribution models to follow social distancing protocols. Many are packing food into pre-sized and sorted boxes to give to clients. Volunteers are needed to help with this extra level of service.
Find your local food bank to drop off food or volunteer:
HAH work parties nearly back on track.
Our partners at Northwest Harvest and Food Lifeline are working to safely accommodate volunteer groups. The current timeline for Northwest Harvest to re-start our Rotary volunteer work parties in August.
Food Lifeline is accepting smaller groups of volunteers to help repack food at its SODO and South Park warehouse locations. Please contact Food Lifeline directly to coordinate a date and time to volunteer.
Spotlight on Help: Taylor Driving School
You may not own a truck, but you can certainly appreciate the amazing help we’ve received from our friends at Taylor Driving School. Owner Ed Taylor and his team of instructors have been using the school’s trucks to haul loads of unpacked food from Skagit Distribution Center in Sedro Woolley to the Helping Hands Food Bank in Mount Vernon where National Guard teams are helping to pack boxes for drive-in distribution at local food banks.
COVID-19 Resources used by Harvest VISTA Members
Pirate Ship: Get the cheapest shipping rates for all USPS® service. Save up to 90% off retail USPS rates with the deepest commercial discounts and no markup, monthly fees, or hidden costs.
Example: Lynsey Horne, Harvest VISTA at Slow Food SW WA, has been using this resource to ship plant seeds to members of her community and increase food sovereignty in the Vancouver, WA area.
Mapquest Route Planner: Route Planner can optimize your route so you spend less time driving and more time doing. Provide up to 26 locations and Route Planner will optimize, based on your preferences, to save you time and gas money.
Example: Abby Findley, Harvest VISTA at Vashon Maury Community Food Bank, is using this tool to create efficient food distribution routes for her volunteers. Vashon Maury Community Food Bank is experiencing significant increases in home delivery requests from vulnerable populations who rely on the food bank.
Free ServSafe Food Handler Course: In these difficult times with COVID-19 affecting so many of us, ServSafe and the National Restaurant Association are committed to supporting restaurant workers by offering a free ServSafe Food Handler course and exam.
Example: Oli Sivula, Harvest VISTA at the Community Action Center, is using this resource to train volunteers for food distribution.
Learn More About the Response
We’re partnering with the Washington State Dept. of Agriculture and other hunger relief to develop best practices and resources. See the full list of responses, schedule updates and capacity needs here.
School districts are working to provide free meals to all students, including “grab and go” models not typically used. To learn more and to see if volunteers are needed to help distribute, check with your local school district.
NEW! Our friends at Washington Food Coalition are maintaining a list of food bank closures and new schedules across Washington State.
Click here to see the list (updated daily).