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Need never goes away. Now, between inflation and post-pandemic rollbacks in aid programs, that need is increasing.
The Eagle Valley Community Foundation’s The Community Market is currently providing no-cost food aid to anyone who comes to the market’s location in Edwards.
Foundation Executive Director Melina Valsecia recently told the Eagle County Board of Commissioners that the market’s model has drawn people from outside the valley. Food banks and other programs in Garfield County often ask clients to complete eligibility paperwork. That doesn’t happen at The Community Market.
Valsecia told the Commissioners that the increase in food costs is “huge.” Between rising prices and substantial increases in year-over-year visits, the market staff members are working at maximum capacity. Valsecia told the Commissioners that a recent Saturday saw 118 visitors to the Edwards market, with another 88 coming through the Gypsum location.
A truck arrived on a recent Saturday, and people in the market asked others waiting outside if they could help unload it. A group jumped into action, and the truck was emptied in just a few minutes, a job that might have taken an hour or more with just the inside workers.
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While the market is pushed to its limits, Valsecia said the project is hanging on. The market buys food from the Food Bank of the Rockies and receives donations of both food and cash. Cash is the most effective tool. Valsecia told the commissioners that the market can turn a $1 donation into $9 worth of food via partnerships.
The Community Foundation’s funding is “mainly from philanthropy,” Valsecia said. The organization also could use more volunteers.
While the market is fulfilling its mission of distributing food, freeing up clients’ paychecks for rent and other bills, Valsecia said people who come in, or visit the Foundation’s MIRA bus, often leave with more than they anticipated.
“This is a way to distribute financial assistance through food,” Valsecia said.
Speaking with the Commissioners, Virginia Lecea of the foundation noted that the MIRA bus often serves as both a medical mobile unit and a clearinghouse for Medicaid enrollment and other services.
“If someone comes with one need, they can leave with three or four” other services started or fulfilled, Lecea said.
Valsecia said MIRA bus clients average three services per visit. And, she added, there are return visitors, an indication of the relationships the foundation is building.
Commissioner Jeanne McQueeney lauded the foundation’s efforts, noting that perhaps local businesses and other organizations could follow the Habitat for Humanity model of getting groups to dedicate time in blocks.
“Those are opportunities we’d like to make available to our team,” McQueeney said.
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