There are currently 54 million people in America facing food insecurity during this pandemic. In many communities, food pantries are seeing a record number of people seeking assistance. Co-ops around the country have stepped up during this crisis to help their communities in need. Abundance Food Co-op in Rochester, N.Y., and Honest Weight Food Co-op in Albany, N.Y., are just two of the many co-ops to show concern for community during Thanksgiving week.
Thankful Hearts at Abundance Food Co-op
On Thanksgiving Day, Abundance Food Co-op served a free hot turkey lunch and distributed winter gear that had been donated to the co-op.
“We are always trying to find ways to help our community at the co-op,” said Beth Sumner, marketing manager at Abundance. “With the pandemic and so many people feeling helpless and alone, and many not able to be with their loved ones, we wanted to come up with something that would help people feel connected and cared for.”
Toward the end of September, the co-op started planning their November and December events, and Thanksgiving stood out as a date to do something special. They came up with “Thankful Hearts,” with staff serving hot turkey lunches and giving winter gear to people currently facing homelessness.
The day before Thanksgiving was spent prepping all the food: six turkeys, mashed potatoes, stuffing, roasted sweet potatoes, rolls, gravy and cranberry sauce — 125 lunches in total. Leftover lunches were donated to staff.
“This project brought out the best in people,” said Beth. “We received almost $2,000 in donations in just 25 days, and the amount of winter gear that was dropped off (much of it handmade by an owner) was overwhelming — it really did warm our hearts!”
Honest Weight supports Free Food Fridge Albany
In Albany, five free food fridges are set up around town as part of the “Free Food Fridge Albany” initiative. The fridges are stocked with items from both community members and businesses. Honest Weight Food Co-op made an ongoing commitment to Free Food Fridge Albany beginning in August 2020. Anyone needing food is welcome to select what they need from a fridge. On Thanksgiving Day, staff from Honest Weight delivered meals to all of the free food fridges in town.
“The fridges have been incredibly well received and utilized, especially with so many more people experiencing food insecurity due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Deanna Beyer, education and engagement coordinator at Honest Weight.
Deanna said the co-op wanted to do something special for Thanksgiving, so they created a vegetarian menu of Field Roast Cranberry Hazelnut roast, macaroni and cheese, whipped sweet potatoes, mixed vegetables, biscuits, fresh cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie. Staff members assembled 100 meals on the day before Thanksgiving and then delivered the meals to each of the fridges around town on Thanksgiving Day.
“We felt it was an incredibly inspiring way to spend the Thanksgiving week, which can be so hectic and stressful in retail,” said Deanna. “It all went really well and was so well received that we’ve decided that we will continue to make meals at least once a month through the spring.”
Co-ops are responding to the COVID-19 pandemic in new and creative ways. Each co-op is unique and there are no one-size-fits-all solutions. Still, consider whether you may be able to adapt some of these ideas at your co-op. At the very least, we hope these short profiles will spark inspiration for new strategies to serve the changing needs of your owners, customers, vendors and community.
