Minutes of the Ad-hoc Meeting to Update and Assess
Program Adjustments During COVID 19
Board of Directors of Johnson County-Friends Feeding Friends
This meeting of the Directors of the above non-profit organization was held via Zoom on April 10, 2020, in Buffalo, Wyoming.
I. Quorum. Roll call was held and a quorum was declared present based on the presence of the following directors: Heather Haas, Jen Burden, Krista Dunn, Becky Cotant, Sallie Wright, and Patsy Wirth.
Also in attendance were Sharon Miller, program coordinator.
II. Program Coordinator Share. Sharon Miller has been in touch with Eddie Maria with Blessings in a Backpack regarding the remaining grant amount. At this point we have used approximately one-third of the grant. Any remaining grant money will be rolled over to the next school year. At this time it is unknown if the grant will be renewed. The snack packs are a very appreciated part of the weekend backpacks. When we gather for our strategic planning, we will include the need to maintain funding for these snacks.
Last year at this time, JC-FFF had distributed around 3,600 backpack meals. We are on schedule to meet and surpass that amount this year.
During the COVID-19 crisis, donations to the program have increased.
III. President’s Update: Response to COVID19 – Heather Haas reviewed the information from the email recently sent to board members:
As most of you know, we have continued our weekly food bags throughout the school closures and COVID-19 pandemic. As with anything new and kinda scary, it was a bit rocky at first but seems to have found a rhythm. We will continue to hand-out/deliver until we are back to a “normal” status. This is what our typical week looks like:
-Sharon creates a new weekly spreadsheet in our shared google drive that includes numbers for the week.
-Board members and Sharon sign up to complete the week’s task which include hand-out at Meadowlark Elem on Friday and deliveries.
-Becky and her family pack the bags Wednesday. For the sake of community safety, Becky and Brian have limited the number of people accessing the dentist’s office, basement included. No outside volunteers are being used and even as we load up for the weekly deliveries, limited people are in and out and even those are screened weekly.
-On Thursday, Becky meets up with Cornerstone Pharmacy employee (owner?) to load up Kaycee’s weekly food. Cornerstone delivers bags to Kaycee counselor who then delivers the bags to these kids’ homes.
-On Friday, usually around 10:30, we meet and load up for Meadowlark and deliveries. Deliveries to daycares and preschool-aged kids who are not able to pick up bags go out. From 11:00-1:00 bags are handed out at Meadowlark (1 per kid) to any families who want it. Any deliveries that can be combined with JCSD1 lunches are combined. After 1:00, school-aged kids deliveries are delivered. If more bags are needed, arrangements are made to pack more. If there are extra bags, they are left at MDLK to be handed out the following week (there are non-perishables).
JC-FFF has also been participating in bi-weekly county led “food” meetings. Thanks Jennifer for starting this ball rolling (we were just going to meet with the food pantry)! It has been cool to work together as a community and it has been a great way to get JC-FFF out into the public eye. Again, some cool teamwork going on there too.
Sharon and Heather participated in a Wyoming Hunger Initiative meeting led by First Lady Jenny Gordon. One of the attendees of the conference call shared that their organization does a “depth chart” to describe all of the functions done by each member, so that information is available if the staff member leaves or has to be replaced.
Heather suggested a blurb be added to the top of the JC-FFF website to show how our program is responding to the needs created from COVID-19.
IV. Food/Menu Committee: Back-up Food Supply plans. Becky said we currently have a 3-4 week food supply in the storage room. When she started a new order with The Food Bank of the Rockies, she found there was a great shortage of supplies. The demand on the Food Bank of the Rockies, their suppliers, and the suppliers beyond that are all affected by COVID-19. Becky was told to continue checking their stock.
Becky began checking into other avenues to obtain food including Sysco, U.S. Foods, and our two local grocery stores. She noted U.S. Foods supply much of their food in bulk containers. We would possibly need to find a certified kitchen where food could be packaged in smaller packages. This would involve having an Infection Control Policy. Both local grocery stores are looking into how they may be able to help. Canned foods should be available.
Presently, the main concern is obtaining more protein based foods.
V. New Board Member Application: An application for a board position was reviewed and the vote tabled until the board has the opportunity to meet the applicant in person.
VI. Rescheduling of, and preparing for the Strategic Planning Retreat: The retreat planned for today will be rescheduled once all COVID-19 sanctions are lifted. To continue to prepare for the retreat, Sharon asked that all board members review the agenda created for the meeting planned for today. She emailed the board a copy of the agenda and a document she created on SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analysis . Sharon also shared the website https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/assessment/assessing-community-needs-and-resources/swot-analysis/main for further information on creating a SWOT analysis.
Krista informed us that the retreat will still be paid for by the private donor.
VII. Dates for upcoming board meetings.
Tuesday, May 26, 2020
Tuesday, August 25, 2020
Tuesday, January, 26, 2021
There being no further business, the meeting was duly adjourned.
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Patsy Wirth
Secretary