Dear Friends and Partners,
This is the December 13th update of Wright
County’s Care and Nutrition Partnership Support for Seniors (60+). We are
starting our 40th 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, assisted transportation and other logistical issues
as they present.
In addition
to our work in Wright County, NourishingHOPE is extending frozen meal
support just beyond the Wright County Line to the east into Western Hennepin
County. Seniors there in Western Hennepin County can reach out to NourishingHOPE
to learn about frozen meal support in their local community. Communities
in Western Hennepin include: Corcoran, Greenfield, Hamel, Hassen, Loretto,
Rogers, Delano, Hanover, Maple Plain, Otsego, and Rockford. For more information
about Western Hennepin services, please contact nourishinghope.oflc@gmail.com or call (763) 477-6300.
Wright County COVID-19 IMPACT
As of December 17th we have 10,129 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Wright County. This measurement began March 13th of this year. The chart below demonstrates the daily trend of cases since mid-March. In the last week we’ve had 601 new confirmed cases. This number is down from last week’s total of 1,058. J It appears from our historical data from the last 9 weeks, we may have gotten over the hump from the most recent surge. JJJ
That
said, our seniors are still vulnerable. Please don’t be impatient or get
lax with your health or the senior near you. Last week there were still 46 new confirmed COVID-19
cases in Wright County of seniors over 70 years of age and 14 laboratory confirmed
deaths. This population is very vulnerable. The great news is that
two approved vaccines have come out this week, but the impact from the vaccine
and herd immunity to protect the most vulnerable is still quite a way
out. Please stay attentive and cautious.
https://www.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/52d559cfbe6e4ca39558c9b2f877e144
Seniors
and individuals with co-morbidities need to stay persistent and vigilant until
they can receive the vaccine or herd immunity can really impact the spread of
this virus. We are updating this specific graph every week to remind
seniors and their friends and family of where they stand in this uncommon
situation.
Impact to our oldest residents in Minnesota
Please
don’t be lulled into a false sense of security. On a very personal note,
after 19 days on the ventilator, one of my very closest friends and a generous
WCCA volunteer helping in the fight during the pandemic lost his battle against
the virus last night. While you likely don’t know him and I will
not mention his name here, please say a prayer for his family and prepare to
act intently on what you can do to not let any vulnerable person around you
fall into the grips of this virus. Share this information
with your friends. Let’s make a determined effort to protect our seniors and
vulnerable friends and use the time necessary to let the vaccine and herd
immunity do its good work.
Our
seniors are no doubt the most vulnerable per capita – your actions can make a
difference. While we need to protect this population, please realize
that separation and social distancing also has its negative impact on this
vulnerable group. Please share this story so all our seniors and their family
and friends know a place to go if they want to confidentially check into
resources they may need – also please call the seniors next door or in
your town to let them know you care.
Seniors
living in one of the County’s senior living facilities have recently brightened
up their doors for the holidays to make this a special time for each
other. Here are just of few of the holiday decorations on just one floor
of that building.
Shout-out to Strategic Partners
Forgotten
Harvest North Minneapolis and Twin Cities Rescue
This coming
Monday Forgotten Harvest – N. Minneapolis and Twin Cities Rescue
will team up to distribute both 80
cases of Untiedt’s Produce and 3,920 prepared frozen meals.
WCCA
Frozen Meal Packers
This week’s WCCA Volunteers packing event on Thursday produced another 2,100 frozen meals, packed and ready for local distribution by Trailblazer and the Care and Nutrition Partnership volunteers: Alleluia Church in St. Michael, and Our Father’s Lutheran in Rockford.
Loading Frozen meals at J&B Group in preparation for Thursday’s Packing Event
Volunteer Bob Zimmerman and WCCA’s Joel Klaverkamp preparing to take meals to local freezers
If
you have a team that might want to help us pack meals on a Thursday morning
please let us know.
Packing usually happens at least once per week and takes less than two
hours. It can be a lot of fun. Each packing can be done with up to
4 or 5 volunteers. Call 763-658-4414 if you want to learn more about this volunteering
opportunity.
This week
at Untiedt’s
Even late in the season, with Untiedt’s workers having already gone home for the year, Farmer Jerry and four local volunteers are still packing a huge amount of produce for area distribution. This week Untiedt’s Vegetable Farm offered 587 boxes of produce, including Butternut and Acorn Squash, Red Potatoes, and 🍎Kindercrisps Apples.
While we
expect this to be the last produce distribution from the Untiedt’s Vegetable
Farm for this season, the final product will not likely be distributed
until January 12th by NourishingHOPE. This produce,
coming directly from the farm, has really been stretched out past the growing
season this year and has been a wonderful blessing to so many seniors,
individuals, and local families.
If you or a potential partner would like to help expand these resources 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)
Please forward this email to potential
partners!
Full of Hope,
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
Or enroll on Website: https://www.wccaweb.com/Home/Volunteer
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.
·
Delano Coborn’s – weekly
food rescue makes a tremendous impact on food security resources.
·
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 and
produce.
·
Local Food Shelves –
produce distribution, 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 senior meal delivery.
·
Delano Senior Center –
senior services application fulfillment, frozen meal distribution, produce
distribution, as well as Meals-on-Wheels referral partner.
·
NourshingHOPE – senior
services applications fulfillment, frozen meal distribution, and produce
distribution.
·
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.
·
Electrical Workers
Union, IBEW Local 292 – brought to the partnership Olympia Tech Electric to
support new electrical service needed at Waverly Café
·
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), HWY 55 Trailer Sales
of Buffalo, 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,
Grace Place, North Ridge Fellowship Small Group and friends, Montrose United
Methodist Church have provided 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.
·
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.
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