Feeding Community in the time of COVID-19

After spending years getting to know the needs, strengths, and dreams of the people in Southwest Denver, Lifespan Local was gearing up for a campaign of community-driven change. Lifespan hired 3 new employees, fired up and motivated their partners and community leaders, and then….COVID hit. The newly expanded team was all too aware that the Southwest Denver communities would be hit harder than most by the effects of the pandemic. Grocery store shelves were bare, and people needed food. Time to pivot.

Within days, Lifespan had mobilized a source for food, joined with community partners, and rallied volunteers to run a weekly emergency food distribution. Kaizen Food Rescue was the first partner to come on board. Kaizen provided an essential connection to high quality food through the Food Bank of the Rockies as well as training to get the site up and running. Then Re:Vision, Lifespan Local, and Roots Family Center came together to work through the details. The plan was to bring tons of great food to Re:Vision, create assorted food boxes, and load it into the trunks of community members’ cars, all while following strict safety standards.    

In early April, a U-Haul truck full of pallets of fresh food pulled up at 11:00 in the morning. Canopy tents stretched out across the parking lots, tables lined up underneath, empty boxes piled sky high, and a group of volunteers, Promotoras, and staff gathered with excitement and nervousness. They unloaded and sorted the food, slid empty boxes down the tables, and filled them assembly-line-style. At 2:30 PM, the gates opened, cars rolled in, and trunks were filled. They served 100 families that first day.     

Months later, food distribution continues every Wednesday.  Lifespan’s collaborative efforts now serve 400-plus families each week, with an average family size of 5.2 - that’s more than 2,000 people each week! The team has worked hard to bring culturally appropriate food that is high quality and enough to feed large families. On a typical week, families receive a box full of fresh produce, a box full of staple pantry items and milk, eggs, and frozen meat. On Fridays, another group of volunteers comes together to hand out diapers and basic health care supplies.

Distribution days are a combination of hard work, sweat, organized chaos, and joy. As the summer heat challenges the volunteers and staff on site, plans are already being made to move the operation indoors for the winter months, as the economic damage of the pandemic wears on.

Lifespan Local is grateful to the donors who have come together to support this work, including Lever Labs, the Colorado Health Foundation, Rose Community Foundation, and a number of generous individuals and families.

When this food work started, community partners had one thing in mind – food security. They didn’t realize that at the same time they would also be building leaders, trust, and relationships across agencies and throughout the community, forged during the chaos of a pandemic.  With an uncertain future ahead, Lifespan Local sees the resilience of the Southwest Denver community and knows it will always come together in times of need.