Over the last several years, the FEC has worked to strengthen the network of food assistance providers in the county. This work was launched at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic as food assistance providers experienced urgent capacity and resource needs to support a growing number of food insecure residents. In response, the FEC partnered with the Department of Social Services to launch the county’s most comprehensive food assistance database for residents in need of food assistance. This partnership also launched a series of technical assistance calls to help partners share best practices and access resources. These calls are hosted monthly and include presentations on a range of topics including childhood insecurity, food safety, resource referral networks, fundraising, and program evaluation. For updates on this call series, please subscribe to our mailing list. 

The FEC is also working to help food assistance providers access funding and infrastructure to operate. In 2020, the FEC received funding to help purchase and upgrade three cold storage trailers located at three food assistance provider sites in the county. Through this project, the cold storage sites have been able to receive new donations that they would not have otherwise been able to accept; reducing the amount of perishable food waste such as produce, meat, and dairy, and distributing more fresh and healthy food items to underserved and vulnerable families.