Dear Friends and Partners,
This is the August 23rd update of
Wright County’s Care and Nutrition Partnership Support for Seniors (60+).
We are starting our 23rd week of response to COVID-19. Wright County
Community Action (WCCA) has a support line for seniors; please encourage
seniors to call (320) 963-6500 Ext. 274. As a community, we want to help with our
most vulnerable neighbors’ challenges, including isolation and the impact that
results, assistance with grocery access through education, grocery delivery,
senior mobile food shelf needs, frozen meal support, prescription access, and
needs like housekeeping, chores, and other logistical issues as they present.
Wright County COVID-19 IMPACT
As
of August 20th we passed the 1,000 case threshold with 1,019 confirmed cases of
COVID-19 in Wright County. This measurement began March 13th
of this year. 91 is the oldest case and three months is the youngest case. 101 new confirmed cases since
last week which is up 30 from 71. Four new cases over 70 years of age. This week we are happy to
see that the percentage of confirmed cases in people age 70+ is down once
again, at 7.35%,
with an
individual total of 75 cases age 70+ since the pandemic started. J Although the percentage of cases over 70+
did go down, the rise in the number of overall cases seems significant.
As of 8-20-20 Wright County Minnesota Coronavirus Confirmed Cases
https://www.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/52d559cfbe6e4ca39558c9b2f877e144
Use
this story to share our information with your senior friends
(60+). Please share this story and take time to call a senior to
see how they are – our seniors like hearing from you!
Shout-out to Strategic Partners
Our
regional transit company, Trailblazer Transit, has always been senior
friendly and has become a tremendous partner as part of the Senior Care and
Nutrition Partnership in Wright County following the COVID-19 Outbreak.
Trailblazer Transit touts being a general public transit system that provides
rides to “people of all ages for just about any reason”! During
this pandemic their boasts have definitely been put to the test and they are
passing with flying colors.
Trailblazer
has long transported riders (including our seniors) to common destinations
including medical facilities, restaurants, banks, drug and grocery
stores, beauty salons, barbers, and government offices. During
this pandemic Trailblazer has generously become a crucial link by offering
continued transportation support across Wright County for our seniors but by
necessity this Partnership has added a bit of a twist for some of their
senior ridership. Influenced by COVID-19 and an effort to protect some of
our highest-risk seniors, Trailblazer is transporting volunteer riders to boost
the Partnerships mission to bring nutrition directly to the door of some of our
particularly vulnerable 60+ residents. Since the end of March, the
Partnership has received more than 1,350 applications for senior nutrition support. Beginning April 6th,
Trailblazer became a crucial component in the fulfillment of this need.
Trailblazer’s Wright County headquarters in Buffalo,
Minnesota https://www.trailblazertransit.com
Trailblazer
in partnership with local volunteers have already driven over 25,000 miles and delivered over 34,000 meals in just over five
short months. You can depend on Trailblazer. They are an amazing
partner.
During the pandemic, volunteers and drivers like these have over
1,000 service hours in the delivery of nutritious meals to vulnerable seniors
all across Wright County on Trailblazer buses, as a frontline defense and
contribution to the Senior Care and Nutrition Partnership.
This
week another one of our wonderful Partners, Untiedt’s Vegetable Farm,
has offered over 400 boxes and gunny sacks of vegetables: cucumbers, green peppers,
yellow zucchini, green zucchini, new potatoes, sweet onions, eggplant, and sweet
corn. Thanks to the Untiedt’s generous spirit and willingness to share
resources this week we delivered 252 cases and gunny sacks full of produce. This is three very
full van loads of produce.
Buffalo Food Shelf
Delano
Senior
Center
Big
Lake Food Shelf and Food Drop
This week I
also want to recognize another farmer that is contributing to our senior frozen
meals and our local food shelves. The Dechene Corporation of Big
Lake Minnesota contributed thousands of pounds of “Baby Red” potatoes to local
food shelves and our senior frozen meal program. We are so grateful for
volunteers like Tom Cherry and Mike Early from the Annandale Food Shelf for
helping to make this possible.
As Joel would say, “got taters” - 1,500
lbs. for senior frozen meals J
Please let us
know if there are other food security partners that we are not reaching with
these vegetables. Please forward this email
to them.
If
you or a potential partner would like to help expand this resource to our
seniors expressly on Highway 12, please consider donating to the “COVID-19 Food” fund at the Delano Loretto
Area United Way:
Write
a check to: Delano Loretto Area United Way
In
the memo line, write: “COVID-19 Food.”
Mail
to:
P.O. Box 578
Delano, MN 55328
Or
visit the Delano Loretto Area United Way Website http://www.delanolorettouw.org/ and click “Donate” -- donations via credit card or PayPal (click on “write a
note”, write “COVID-19 Food”)
If
you want to target expansion of frozen meal delivery in other parts of Wright
County including the Highway 55 corridor and I-94 corridor, please consider
donating to the “COVID-19 Food” fund at Wright County Community Action:
Write
a check to: Wright County Community Action
In
the memo line, write: “COVID-19 Food.”
Mail
to:
P.O. Box 787
Maple Lake, MN 55358
Or
visit the Wright County Community Action Agency Website (dedicate to: “COVID-19 Food”) https://www.wccaweb.com
The
entire community of Wright County is in this together! (see current partner
list below)
Joyful,
Jay
Weatherford
WCCA
Executive Director
For
more information for Wright County senior support services:
https://www.wccaweb.com/Home/Index (click current
programs)
or
email: agingservices@wccaweb.com
or
call:
(320)
963-6500 Ext 274 – Aging Program Manager - Eric Nagel
(320)
963-6500 Ext 241 – Dispatch
1-800-333-2433 – Senior LinkAge Line
Delivered
Frozen Meal Program(s) – WCCA at (320) 963-6500 Ext 274 or Catholic Charities Meals on Wheels program located in Maple
Lake: (320)
963-5771,
Annandale: (320) 274-3891 and Buffalo: (763) 682-6036
To
volunteer:
Contact (320) 963-6500 Ext. 225 –– Jen Liebeck jliebeck@wccaweb.com
New
Partner and First Time Reader Overview
Farmers: food shelfs and senior programs can use
your support. Please share this email with your Wright County
farmer friends potentially able to contribute, or other Food Security Partners
that could use this produce to support their efforts. For large
donations, WCCA will use its resources to make distributions happen.
Again, going forward we hope to expand this list of local food security
recipients that could use fresh vegetables when they become available. If you are
serving local individuals at no cost and would like to be included in this
potential fresh vegetable distribution opportunity, please email me a cell
phone number to text. When an opportunity arises, a rapid response will
be needed. Based on a first come first serve distribution and
availability, Wright County Community Action will do our best to share these
resources as they come in and deliver them to partner locations.
Partner support
·
Second Harvest – free
and reduced cost bulk raw food products for frozen meal production.
·
Local Farmers –
Untiedt’s Vegetable Farm and Dechene
Corporation of Big Lake Minnesota – contributing produce for senior meal
support and local food security needs.
·
Waverly Café - ingenuity
and giving spirit including their PPP loan directed at paying their staff to
produce senior meals, catering expertise, and use of their commercial kitchen.
·
Catholic Charities
partially funded by Central MN Council on Aging – frozen meals contribution and
Meals-on-Wheels referral partner.
·
Cargill – breakfast
meals.
·
J&B Group – bulk
warehouse freezer storage including bulk prepared meal storage and bulk raw
food storage; not to mention helping us resolve logistical issues, as well as
supplying a really great box with the outcome of providing so many solutions to
challenges we have faced in our production process.
·
Buffalo Crossings LLC,
owner of Oriental Buffet in Buffalo – commercial walk-in freezer, commercial
walk-in cooler, and commercial kitchen to pack and store senior meals.
·
Local Food Shelves -
local frozen meal and bulk food storage, as well as senior services
registration (Annandale Food Shelf, Buffalo Food Shelf, Monticello Help Center,
and Waverly Food Shelf).
·
Trailblazer – daily
volunteer based County-wide local meal delivery.
·
Delano Senior Center –
senior services application fulfillment and frozen meal distribution, as well
as Meals-on-Wheels referral partner.
·
Wright County Human
Services/Public Health – volunteer recruitment support, data support,
instructional materials design, and logistics support.
·
St. Cloud Refrigeration
– emergency air conditioning for the Waverly Café kitchen.
·
*NEW PARTNER – Electrical Workers Union, IBEW Local 292 – brought to the
partnership Olympia Tech Electric to support new electrical service needed at
Waverly Café
·
*NEW PARTNER – Olympia Tech Electric – installing new electrical services at
Waverly Café needed for additional freezer capacity
·
Local Lions Clubs –
local community freezer development and contributions to the cost of frozen
meals (Waverly, Montrose, Howard Lake, Maple Lake, Loretto, and Monticello).
·
Local Municipalities –
local freezer storage funding support (City of Waverly, City of Montrose, City
of Howard Lake).
·
Health Care Partners –
Allina Health (financial support)
·
Other Local Corporations
– Citizen State Bank of Waverly (freezer funding support) and Walgreens
(shopping bags).
·
Local Faith-based
organizations – many very giving churches for many years have been active in
financial support for food security across Wright County (too many to mention
them all – but you know who you are) . – in addition, Love INC, St Mary’s
Catholic Church, Alleluia Lutheran, Our Father’s Lutheran, St. John’s Lutheran,
North Ridge Fellowship Small Group and friends, Montrose United Methodist
Church have provide support for senior call center activity, B.R.E.A.D program
outreach, volunteer administrative services, food security, food preparation,
and meal and food storage - access and delivery.
·
Initiative Foundations,
Delano Loretto Area United Way, Wright County Area United Way, Mardag
Foundation, and St Paul and Minnesota Foundations including funding for
COVID-19 direct response, Catchafire membership, and B.R.E.A.D. program
funding.
·
State Live Well at Home
Funding and Federal Title III funding support administered by the Minnesota
Board on Aging and Central Minnesota Council on Aging.
·
Wholesale purchase of
recyclable meal trays.
·
Oliver Equipment Lease
for the required equipment to seal the senior meal trays.
·
AMI Group and IDA Foods
– access to airline meal vendors adding senior meal production capacity and
contingency support. This opportunity to purchase over stock of
first-class airline meals due to drop in air travel and our partners sharing
their relationships.
·
Tireless WCCA Staff
support from multiple programs working to braid any allowable resource to make
a difference for our seniors.
·
Countless community
volunteers - everything from administrative services support, logistics and
storage coordination, bulk food and materials transport, senior transportation,
local meal delivery, meal packing, senior call center activity, PPE production
and product support, volunteer coordination, food rescue, and so many more
details where you fill the gap (you too, know who you are – we are so
grateful for your courage and willingness to step forward to meet needs).
Call to Action
There is still much more opportunity for local
corporate and civic partners to get involved. It’s simple solutions like
packing meals in the Walgreens shopping bags or storing bulk meals or protein
on the warehouse freezer floor at J&B Group that have made all the
difference. Given the chance there are many incredible businesses that
have unique resources, relationships, buying power, and experience.
We really hope to find more corporate partners willing to leverage their earned
knowledge and distinctive talents to improve this support for our seniors
during the pandemic. Leveraging what they do best including their
marketing, buying power, and connections brings together powerful
partners. When we put our heads together, we dig up unique ways like
those mentioned briefly above. These often come from you readers. So please share this email with your
friend, neighbor, or corporate partner so that this story can be told, and those big thinkers out there
have the opportunity to step forward and do what they do best.
Its leaders like Waverly Café, J&B Group,
Cargill, St. Cloud Refrigeration, Buffalo Crossing, and Untiedt Vegetable Farm
that are showing us ways for other corporate partners to leverage their buying
power, innovation, and economy of scale that will most likely take this
delivery system to the next level. We need you thinkers to help refine
our process as a community, interested in protecting our most vulnerable population
by leveraging their lessons learned; those lessons that have brought your
businesses to the success they are today. Share this message with your friends: during the same years that many of your
companies were established and being built to thrive, the people we are
trying to protect were your customers. This might be a great
opportunity to now give back to the ones who supported you and help them
thrive.
We need to refine solutions in local communities
for freezer storage, access to bulk buying, shared and efficient transportation
opportunities, HR teams organizing volunteers to support local distribution in
their community, corporate giving through community investment and
matching. We need volunteered ingenuity from our bankers and other
corporate partners that can bring their experience to this effort to
shore up and produce a stronger, even more sustainable model than we have
today. It is partners with their buying power, innovation, and economy of
scale that are now needed to continue to refine our process. There is
still local ingenuity to leverage in this crisis seeking local solutions that
will only enhance, extend, and sustain the investment of the federal and state
agencies.
Comments
Post a Comment