hole food rescue
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Student summer lunches now available
JACKSON, Wyo. — For six weeks this summer, a nonprofit has geared up to feed thousands of free lunches to valley kids.
The initiative started on June 17 and will run through Aug. 30. Lunches are available to any child through the Hole Food Rescue Sprout program.
In 2023, the nonprofit distributed 7,869 lunches through the Sprout program.
This year, the organization is planning to distribute 15,000 lunches.
“Ensuring all children have access to a healthy lunch is crucial for our community’s health and well-being,” Iván Jiménez, program director for Hole Food Rescue, said in a news release.
The SproutMobile will be located at six local parks between 10:30 a.m. and 1:15 p.m. Monday through Friday each week.
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Hole Food Rescue’s summer lunch program starts June 17
JACKSON, Wyo. — Summer break is right around the corner for local students and Hole Food Rescue (HFR) is making sure lunch is available to children all summer long through the Sprout Summer Lunch Program.
The program provides free lunches Monday, June 17 through Friday, Aug. 30 at various locations and timeframes across town. The program is completely free and requires no intake forms or sign-up.
This year, in partnership with One22, Teton County School District #1 and the Fund for Public Education, HFR added a pick-up location at Jackson Elementary School (JES). Monday through Thursday from June 18 through Aug. 16, lunches can be picked up at JES from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. July 4 is the only day the program will not be available.
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Jackson Hole community partners raise $85,000 for summer lunch program
Due to fluctuating poverty levels, Summer Lunch Programs across Teton County School District have been canceled.
Munger Mountain Elementary School is the last in the district that will participate in the Summer Lunch Program. However, it's located ten miles south of downtown Jackson, making it inaccessible to many students who may benefit from those services.
In response, Colby Mitchell, of the Community Foundation of Jackson Hole, said that a group of community partners has raised $85,000 to bridge the gap. The groups are seeking a centrally located facility from which to distribute 7,000 lunches and 3,000 grab-and-go style breakfasts this summer.
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Nonprofits fill gap after school district cancels summer meals program
Local nonprofits will step in to keep Teton County School District’s summer meals program afloat after the district canceled the program due to staffing shortages and an overall decrease in federal financial resources.
At the center of the federal funding gap is Jackson Elementary School, whose Title 1 status will end this fiscal year. A Title 1 designation provides public schools with additional federal and state funding based on a variety of metrics including poverty levels. Title 1 funding provides programming, staff and services.
Munger Mountain Elementary is the lone public school currently maintaining a Title 1 status with 40% of students on the free and reduced meals program.
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Wyoming rejects USDA food-assistance program, but advocates say more help is needed
Wyoming is one of 15 states to opt out of a new U.S. Department of Agriculture program that aims to supplement family food needs when school isn’t in session. Though Wyoming’s education chief said the program is extraneous, food-assistance leaders say existing programs could use more help to serve the state’s struggling families.
Superintendent of Public Instruction Megan Degenfelder said the new Biden administrative initiative, known as Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer, is a welfare program mis-marketed as a program for kids.
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TETON COUNTY RESIDENTS CONTINUE TO PAY HIGHEST PRICES IN STATE
On the heels of a state report showing just how high the cost of living is in Teton County, a leading housing advocate said the community is “coming apart” because high rent and housing insecurity are forcing residents out.
County residents continue to pay the highest prices in Wyoming on necessary items like housing and food, as the overall cost of living is an estimated 71% higher than the statewide average, according to the latest Wyoming Cost of Living Index report.
The most significant factor contributing to Teton County’s high ranking is the cost of housing, which was 132% above the statewide average in the second quarter of the year.
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WOMEN YOU SHOULD KNOW IN WYOMING: HANNAH COOLEY
Hannah Cooley works at the intersection of two pressing issues: hunger and food waste. She is tackling both at once as executive director of Hole Food Rescue in Jackson Hole, an innovative, volunteer-driven nonprofit that has saved 2.3 million pounds of food from local garbage and diverted it to local tables in the past decade.
“It’s a two-pronged mission that we’re accomplishing every day,” Cooley, 33, told the Wyoming Truth. “Our vision is ensuring that our community has access to nutritious food year-round.”
The nonprofit collects items from grocery stores, bakeries and restaurants that are considered “unsellable” due to cosmetic imperfections, nearing expiration dates and overall surplus, but are still nutritious. Ninety percent is distributed via a free grocery program at a variety of stations around the community; anything left ends up as hog feed or compost at nearby farms.
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More space means more food rescues for nonprofit
When part of your mission is to save food from the trash, it hurts to turn around and throw it into the compost.
“We’re only composting about 6% or 7% of the food that we rescue, which is the lowest it’s ever been,” said Hannah Cooley, executive director of Hole Food Rescue.
The nonprofit that diverts perfectly good food from the landfill and provides nutritious meals to kids and adults should be proud of that single-digit number, but Cooley knows that they can do better. To do that, they’re looking to go bigger — about 325% bigger.
Hole Food Rescue to move into expanded facility
Hole Food Rescue (HFR) has announced the purchase of a new facility to accommodate its growing operations.
The nonprofit, which recently celebrated its 10th anniversary, will move into a building south of town on Elk Ave. early next year. The new space includes a large warehouse for food storage, a prep kitchen and office space.
“We are rescuing 890% more food than we were 10 years ago, and our Food For the Community program experiences a 26% increase in participation on an annual basis,” HFR Executive Director Hannah Cooley said in the announcement.
THROUGH A LOCAL’s LENS: Hole food rescue celebrates 10 years
From dumpster diving to rescuing millions of pounds of food, Hole Food Rescue (HFR) has come a long way in the past 10 years, evolving to meet community needs and continuing to keep food out of landfills.
“We’re a little scrappy,” Hannah Cooley, executive director of Hole Food Rescue, said. “We literally started from the dumpster.”
We all have the opportunity to rescue food
There’s no shame in accepting bread, milk, vegetables and other perishables from Hole Food Rescue. Instead, those who stop by the Food Rescue’s hub on Martin Lane or one of its seven neighborhood distribution sites are actually diverting edible food from the landfill, saving a great deal of wasted energy, conserving resources and decreasing environmental burdens that food production can have on the planet.
Allow me to introduce Hailey Gilmore, a recent graduate of The Conservation Alliance’s Conservation Leadership Institute (CLI).
I caught up with her last week to hear about life post CLI and share a bit of her personal story. Our Alumni network is teaming with local activists and folks dedicated to improving our community and beyond. We’re grateful to share their experiences with you.
Donate excess game meat Saturday
After a great hunting season, Bryan Bedrosian has a little extra meat in his freezer. And he thinks other people might too.
So, Saturday at the Teton Raptor Center, Bedrosian will be setting up shop with his nonprofit, Sporting Lead-Free, to collect donations from hunters with extra meat on their hands from 9 a.m. to noon. The meat will go to Hole Food Rescue, a Jackson Hole nonprofit that typically picks up grocery store food that’s destined for the dumpster because of its expiration date, gets rid of what can’t be eaten and offers what’s edible to people in the community — free of charge.
Hole Food Rescue opens new distribution site
Hole Food Rescue is adding sites to its Food for the Community program in an effort to get more groceries into more hands.
Coordinators and volunteers welcomed 25 environmentally conscious “shoppers” Nov. 10 at the launch of the newest distribution site in Melody Ranch. The debut was a success, program manager Iván Jiménez said.
“Even though this was the first week at this location, we still had people who were there early, were eager to help us set up ... and eager to help the program get off and running,” Jiménez said.
who will get the golden pig award at this year’s hole food rescue million pound party?
When Hole Food Rescue created the Million Pound Party, the goal was to reach a million pounds of food rescued. In 2018 the nonprofit reached that goal. In 2022 it has doubled that impact, having diverted 2 million pounds of food from the landfill.
To celebrate the new landmark number, and coming back from the pandemic hiatus, Hole Food Rescue is returning with three whole pigs, five chefs, activities for the whole family and live music in the Center Park at the Center for the Arts.
Young, old volunteer side by side at Hole Food Rescue
Volunteers, young and old, said the nonprofit has cultivated a culture of volunteerism that’s attractive for any number of reasons. Some people like the tactile work of organizing food, boxes and walk-in refrigerators. Others like being able see their work translate into something concrete: like thousands of pounds of food packed and ready to go out across town.
Got Space? Human services care for community while operating on the fringes
Ask most small business owners, renters or nonprofit executives in Jackson if they have space to grow and the short answer is “heck no.”
At Hole Food Rescue the muffins are up to the ceiling and they’re considering renovating a donated horse trailer for additional storage. At Coombs Outdoors pending demolition means they’re being forced to move out. The News&Guide caught up with both organizations to hear how space limits operations and what it would mean to have a more permanent place to call their own.
Hannah Cooley to lead hole food rescue
Cooley started volunteering at Hole Food Rescue in 2015 and quickly became the organization’s first part-time employee. She served as facility manager and director of operations before taking the lead on programming and propelling Hole Food Rescue through the logistical challenges of the pandemic.
Summer Program to Offer Free and Nutritious Lunches to Children
In the continued pursuit of its mission to reduce food waste and cultivate food security in Teton County, Hole Food Rescue is introducing to the community its newest initiative: the Sprout Summer Lunch Program. The Sprout Program will offer children free and nutritious lunches, as well as books and take-home activity kits, all summer long.
Valley Close-up: No Longer Down in the Dumps
Standing in an overflowing dumpster in the middle of winter, Ali Dunford looked down at the expiration date on packages of chicken breasts: It was that day. She was a vegetarian at the time, but she grabbed everything she could and gave it to her friend: a six-month supply of frozen chicken. He didn’t get sick once. For Dunford that was just one of dozens of experiences that fired up her passion to solve food waste problems in Jackson.
SCRAPPY FOOD COMMUNITY ADAPTS TO COVID-19
Flexibility and adaptability have been key attributes for groups like Hole Food Rescue, which found that they were more needed than ever in the aftermath of a life-changing outbreak of a novel coronavirus, which has put 22 million Americans out of work and is causing unprecedented retractions in economic activity.
KEEPING KIDS FED IN THE SUMMER
A new collaboration between Hole Food Rescue and One22 aims to provide free, nutritious lunches to One22’s summer camp scholarship recipients. This year the summer camp scholarship aims to pay for 110 children in Jackson to spend four weeks at camp.
POACHED GAME MEAT FEEDS THE COMMUNITY
A three-way partnership provides confiscated meat to the community’s neediest.
Schools Target Weekend Hunger
A small room in the new Munger Mountain Elementary School serves as ground zero for a pilot program combating hunger when school is out. Teton County School District No. 1 Food Service Director Wes Clarke paired up with Hole Food Rescue’s Ali Milburn to create what’s now known as the “Munger Market” or “Mercado de Munger.”
Waste Not Want Not
At 10 am on Wednesday, 473 pounds of food is hauled from the Whole Grocer. Instead of catching a ride to the landfill, it’s all piled into the back of a Subaru and driven just around the corner to Hole Food Rescue.
Food Rescuers Fight Waste and Hunger
How Hole Food Rescue turned dumpster diving missions into diverting 20,000 pounds of waste from landfills each month.