As everyone knows (perhaps, all too well), for more than year, now, the pandemic has presented challenges beyond a public health crisis. Covid not only exacerbated pre-existing issues—chief among them food security—but also created new ones, especially in Southeast Alaska, where the restaurant and hospitality industries rank among the largest economic contributors.
And yet, in crisis comes opportunity. Last fall, a consortium of citizens and local non- profit organizations instituted the Juneau CARES Meal Program, managed by the United Way of Southeast Alaska. This simple but multifaceted initiative’s goal: to create business for local restaurants while simultaneously feeding the community.
Three times a day, seven days a week for seven months, by the program’s conclusion on March 31, 23 Southeast Alaska restaurants prepared nearly 75,000 meals for people in need. Continuing past the original grant’s expiration at the end of 2020 courtesy of funding through the Juneau Community Foundation and The Glory Hall, which also handled delivery, Juneau CARE kitchens provided food service for various homeless and cold weather shelters, other emergency housing locations, quarantine centers, seniors and natural disaster victims in Haines. Meals included sandwiches, wraps, salads, pastas, breakfast scrambles, grilled veggies, baked goods and more, courtesy of dozens of food service professionals.
“For us, it was very valuable—business at a time when we desperately needed it,” says Travis Smith, owner of the Rookery Café. Like other participating restaurateurs, he credits the Juneau CARES program with keeping the business afloat and staff on the payroll.
“Plus, it felt good knowing that people were getting meals at a time when they desperately needed it,” he says.
Juneau CARES was funded by a grant from The Alaska Community Foundation’s Coronavirus Nonprofit Relief Fund (CNRF). The United Way coordinated disbursement, thanks to program manager Kirk Stagg. By the program’s end, it had injected $895,844 directly into the local economy.
“I don’t think the numbers do justice to the program’s true impact on the community,” Stagg says. “Many are sad to see it end, but we’ll always remember the power of working together and rising to the occasion.”