Since the pandemic hit in mid-March, Y associates and volunteers jumped into action and hit back in every way within our power. Almost overnight we transitioned from core Y operations to emergency operations helping to meet critical community needs in a time of crisis. Among the most immediately pressing and tragic of those needs: hunger.
What started initially as an ad hoc response to quickly get food to those in need, resulted in the distribution of more than 240,000 meals over 14 weeks to students and families across the region and has now moved from emergency response to a core, ongoing part of Y operations with the introduction of Fresh Mart, a traveling, innovative combination of a fresh produce distribution "pop up" market and a digital and in-person education program teaching nutritional and sustainable living practices like how to grow and harvest your own food. I am particularly excited about the educational aspect of this program as a vitally needed tool in the effort to address health disparities in our community.
The first Fresh Mart "pop up" event reached 200 people and, given the momentum already behind it, it is easy to see how this has the real potential to be both health promoting and sustaining to all the families it serves throughout our region.
Many thanks to McCormick & Company, Kaiser Permanente and Giant Food's Our Family Foundation for their generous support of this innovative program. Thanks also go out to our program partners, the University of Maryland Read For Health Initiative, University of Maryland Extension Program, Hungry Harvest and the Master Gardeners League.
At the same time, it also must be said that none of this would have happened without the tenacity and unstoppable determination of Y associates who simply would not take "no" or "pandemic" or "risk" for an answer. They laid the foundation that allowed food distribution to be an ongoing part of our Y’s programming. Although the list of those deserving of praise is long, they include our Chief Strategy Officer, the indefatigable Michelle-Becote Jackson, the equally unstoppable Eric Somerville, Vice President of Corporate and Civic Engagement, and so many other Y volunteers, partners, donors and associates.
I’m very proud of this new initiative and of the stake in the ground it represents toward both meeting immediate needs and empowering longer term sustainability.
All the best,
John
John K. Hoey
President & CEO
The Y in Central Maryland