{"id":805470,"date":"2020-03-19T16:20:06","date_gmt":"2020-03-19T22:20:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/?p=380697"},"modified":"2020-03-19T16:20:06","modified_gmt":"2020-03-19T22:20:06","slug":"summit-county-and-local-groups-rally-to-provide-food-and-essential-services-to-those-affected-by-shutdown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/local-news\/summit-county-and-local-groups-rally-to-provide-food-and-essential-services-to-those-affected-by-shutdown\/","title":{"rendered":"Summit County and local groups rally to provide food and essential services to those affected by shutdown"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Jonnah Glassman, of the Family & Intercultural Resource Center, works a busy day as food security supervisor Wednesday, March 18, in Breckenridge. She noted that there has been an increase in the number of people visiting the food bank since businesses have closed and is happy to have received large food donations from Vail Resorts, the owners of Sauce on the Blue, Quandary Grill and others.<\/strong>
Liz Copan \/ ecopan@summitdaily.com<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

DILLON \u2014 As businesses continue to shut down throughout the area, county departments, towns and nonprofits are stepping up to lend support to those individuals most vulnerable to the new coronavirus, and others who aren\u2019t able to access necessary goods and services.<\/p>\n

The number of individuals in need is significant. Those deemed most at-risk to severe illness from COVID-19 are adults over 60 years old and individuals with serious chronic medical conditions like heart disease, diabetes and lung disease. <\/p>\n

In addition to individuals with health conditions, there are about 5,500 seniors in the community, of which at least 50 are considered particularly vulnerable due to physical impairments, a lack of family in the area and other factors, according to Lorie Williams, manager of the Summit County Community & Senior Center.<\/p>\n

While some members of the senior community consider themselves more at risk than others, there seems to be a clear drive throughout the population to look after one another and make sure needs are being met.<\/p>\n

Andy Searls, 83, is president of Staying in Summit, a local group dedicated to the development of senior housing and care communities in the area. She said she didn\u2019t consider herself in the at-risk population because of her overall good health. Still, she noted there is a need to keep in touch with others in the community.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m concerned,\u201d Searls said. \u201cBut I don\u2019t consider myself higher risk. \u2026 I do try and keep in touch with people just to check in and see if they need anything, and if they\u2019re OK. It can be lonely for people living in their apartment without any contact with the outside world. \u2026 Everyone I\u2019ve talked to within the last few days seems to be in good health and seems to be fine. People are frustrated, but that\u2019s the name of the game.\u201d<\/p>\n

Diane Luellen, 74, who founded the Summit Colorado Interfaith Council, said she\u2019s squarely in the middle of the vulnerable population, noting not only her age but also a history of blood and heart conditions.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m staying close to home, reading, sorting closets and having meetings by Zoom,\u201d Luellen said. \u201cI\u2019m fortunate to live in a comfortable home, and getting groceries isn\u2019t a problem. But I\u2019m very concerned about people who can\u2019t do that, who don\u2019t have a comfortable place to be, or who don\u2019t have friends and family nearby. \u2026 But the community is responding beautifully. People are reaching out to one another. I don\u2019t see a big level of concern. Though I do hear people saying they\u2019ll be following the advice of health officials.\u201d<\/p>\n

While most of the older population and others considered more vulnerable continue to take extra precautions against the disease, county officials and their partners are making efforts to expand available resources to support them.<\/p>\n

Earlier this week, the county announced a pair of hotline numbers for at-risk individuals \u2014 including those whose financial situation has deteriorated over the past week \u2014 to call to get help with food, medication and other services.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we\u2019re really working on right now is food and security,\u201d said Joanne Sprouse, the county\u2019s human services director. \u201cPeople can\u2019t get food because they can\u2019t get on the bus, or maybe they\u2019ve run out of funds. We\u2019re trying to focus mostly on our most at-risk and vulnerable, but vulnerable can mean that you are no longer working, and you\u2019re in a desperate situation.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The Family & Intercultural Resource Center\u2019s food bank is making an extra effort to help people who have been affected by the COVID-19 shutdown. Businesses who have donated their food to the food bank include Vail Resorts, the owners of Sauce on the Blue and Quandary Grill, among others.<\/strong>
Liz Copan \/ ecopan@summitdaily.com<\/a><\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

The numbers (970-668-2940 or 970-668-2942) will connect community members with the human services department, which will facilitate the pick-up and drop-off of prescription medications or ensure people can get food deliveries to their doors if they\u2019re in quarantine or can\u2019t leave for other reasons.<\/p>\n

For food deliveries, individuals can receive either a \u201cblizzard box\u201d \u2014 which includes prepared breakfast, lunch and dinner for two people \u2014 or fresh meals prepared daily. Meals will be picked up and delivered by town staff and volunteers to avoid any centralized pickup locations, and left outside of doors to reduce physical contact.<\/p>\n

Williams said the county would be able to prepare about 100 meals a day. And other community organizations are stepping in to help out, as well. Sprouse said a number of groups already have begun lending help, including the Family & Intercultural Resource Center, The Summit Foundation, Northwest Colorado Center for Independence, Red Cross, the local elks lodge and rotary club, Vail Resorts, numerous faith organizations and more.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone is rising to the occasion to take care of the folks in Summit County,\u201d Sprouse said. \u201cI\u2019m impressed with the outpouring of support we\u2019ve had. \u2026 We know as the days go on it will get worse. We\u2019re looking at what we need daily.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, The Summit Foundation released on its website a list of additional resources available to community members<\/a>. Though, just days into the closure, those resources are already being pushed to meet demand.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve had as many people in a week as we usually see in a month,\u201d Family & Intercultural Center Resource Executive Director Brianne Snow said about the group\u2019s food pantry. \u201cWe\u2019re trying to be responsive to what the needs will be. \u2026 The next month or two are pretty uncertain for families. All we\u2019re trying to do is create a steady stream of information that is facts based and not rooted in fear so that people feel supported. That\u2019s important in a time of uncertainty, just to know that there is someone you can pick up a phone and call to get information.\u201d<\/p>\n

As nonprofits, governments and other community partners continue efforts to mitigate the effects of shutdowns, Coloradans are being asked to help where they can. On Wednesday, Gov. Jared Polis announced the launch of HelpColoradoNow.org<\/a>, a central hub for residents to find volunteer opportunities, make financial contributions for relief efforts, and donate blood, supplies and more.<\/p>\n

Residents also can reach out locally to see how they can lend a hand.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf people do have extra time on their hands, they can call the (Community and Senior Center) and get on our volunteer list,\u201d Williams said. \u201cThe volunteer list is growing, but when we get super busy, we\u2019re going to need help getting these meals out. We\u2019re going to need help building more blizzard boxes.\u201d<\/p>\n

via:: Summit Daily<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jonnah Glassman, of the Family & Intercultural Resource Center, works a busy day as food security supervisor Wednesday, March 18, in Breckenridge. She noted that there has been an increase in the number of people visiting the food bank since businesses have closed and is happy to have received large food donations from Vail Resorts, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[99],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-805470","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-07-18 21:23:32","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSMT The Mountain","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/805470","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=805470"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/805470\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=805470"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=805470"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=805470"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}