Public welcome to donate at https://www.caringcrowd.org/provide-meals-food-insecure-families-impacted-covid-19

Resulting from a successful partnership with AdkAction, The Hub on the Hill will deliver approximately 5,500 Emergency Food Packages (EFPs) by October 1, 2020. This project has supplied tens of thousands of meals and put food on the tables of hundreds of families facing increased food insecurity due to COVID-19.

Due to the increased need for door-to-door deliveries associated with the pandemic – as well as an expansion of the EFP program enabled by grant funding from Adirondack Foundation and Mother Cabrini Health Foundation – the Hub’s modest delivery fleet has been strained. “We’ve been able to step up and meet demand through sheer commitment and determination, but over the last several weeks four of our delivery vehicles have ended up in the shop resulting in numerous costly repairs and delays,” said Hub director, Jori Wekin. “The good news is, we’ve received some amazing sponsors to help us replace two of the vehicles!”

Mercedes-Benz is providing $10,000 toward a new Sprinter Van, Thermo-King is providing a $1,500 discount for the refrigeration unit, and the Johnson & Johnson Foundation is pledging $15,000 PLUS a 50% match on pledges made up to the $400 level via their Caring Crowd fundraising platform.

The $15,000 pledge from Johnson & Johnson Foundation has been made possible through collaboration with Robyn Shumer, QMS Quality Lead at Johnson & Johnson. Shumer recently moved to the area full-time with her family, “I am so committed to helping people eat, especially fresh, local, and nutritious food. When there’s an opportunity to put good food on people’s tables, support farmers and strengthen our local food system, it’s a win-win-win. People want to feel like they can help others right now and this project gives them that opportunity”, said Shumer.

The Hub was founded in 2015 as a non-profit corporation focused on supporting and reinforcing the growing agricultural movement in the Champlain Valley. From humble beginnings as a community kitchen and food processing center, the Hub has grown into a local food aggregation role, including delivery services for a majority of local farmers and food makers. The Hub now delivers over 100,000 lbs of local, organic food each year. The Hub on the Hill is launching this campaign with fiscal sponsorship from the Saranac Lake Rotary Foundation.

To learn more, visit https://www.caringcrowd.org/provide-meals-food-insecure-families-impacted-covid-19.