Kudos to Liz Lewis, Page County Economic Development and Tourism Coordinator, for bridging the gap between small businesses, local food producers and Page County citizens hard-hit by the COVID-19. With grant funds of over $200,000, she and Page One Food Pantry worked with 15 local restaurants, two farm markets, a local baker and egg producer to provide food for the unemployed and elderly with a Pop Up Food Hub. The county also secured over $500,000 to assist small businesses.
In its first week, back in April, the Pop Up Food Hub fed over 150 people and quickly reached capacity. The Hub has maintained capacity through the fall and is expected to wrap up in early December.
Program funds not only ramped up food assistance with the help of Page One to include fresh food purchased from our local restaurants and small farm markets. We also provided our small businesses with safety equipment (PPE), rent assistance and other resources that will help them better navigate Covid-19.
~ Liz Lewis.
This is a shining example of how a community came together and rose to the challenges of this year to connect people in need to local food growers and producers, and to make sure our local businesses could weather these tough times.