The story of the Food Bank of the Kiowa Creek Community Church might be less a story of innovation in one thing, and more a story of innovation in all things.
The historically small food bank has served the eastern half of rural Elbert County for more than 20 years. Shortly before COVID lockdowns hit, the church community had made the decision to revitalize and significantly expand the food access effort by making it a more central part of their own service mission. They couldn’t have known what they were in for.
Shortly after the shelter in place orders came down across the state, it was clear that food resources from the western side of the county – 40 and 50 miles away from the church – weren’t making it to the small farming communities on the eastern side of the county. With food and equipment support from Food Bank of the Rockies, the small community church of just 35 active members launched the following initiatives that are still operating today and serving more than 450 people across the county.
Church members completely renovated and expanded the foodbank’s facility, along with the physical location in their fellowship hall and instituted the operating philosophy of “Client Choice”. The Kiowa Creek Community Church has used several reactive catalytic ionization units in the 113 year-old chapel for a decade for the health of their members and the health of the old building. They purchased more RCI units to clean the air and surfaces in the foodbank. This technology is used by NASA in the space program and is certified by Kansas State University’s Food Science department to kill 99.999% of all viral and bacterial pathogens including SARS and COVID. This allowed them the confidence to open an expanded indoor pantry for client shopping. Staffed with volunteers, the pantry has in place all public health guidelines and allows individuals to shop for their groceries. Individuals who need the food, but are concerned about indoor safety, are provided menus at their car and volunteers fill their orders and load their car trunks.
Agate is a small rural community on the Eastern edge of Elbert County. When the school shut down fully, teachers were traveling out to their students on school buses because the sparse internet connectivity didn’t allow students to attend virtual classes. Families were provided with foodbank menus so they could select food and personal hygiene items. The school district then faxed the orders to the foodbank and volunteers from the food bank filled those orders. Agate volunteers then transported the orders 40 miles to Agate, where the food could be picked up in the school or sent out on the buses with the teachers for delivery.
In late May, volunteers worked with the Agate school district to launch a pop-up pantry outdoors at the Agate school parking lot. This allowed the citizens and school families from Agate and Deer Trail to shop for what they needed. Those with concerns about safety were provided a menu in their car to select from and volunteers shopped, packed and loaded their boxes into their car trunks. Twenty-five hundred pounds of food was distributed. This initial pop-up pantry was followed by one at the Simla Thrift Store parking lot that served the rural communities of Simla, Matheson, Ramah and Peyton, where 3,500 pounds of food was distributed in just 2.5 hours.
An existing back pack program for school students was revitalized and expanded. Most schools in the county are on four-day schedules to accommodate budget issues, so the church pivoted to provide more opportunities for students to take home a three-day supply of food where they could.
“It’s really been a blessing to our Elbert County community. We are a small group, but we want to serve our community. And I feel like we’ve done all we can to do that. That initial grant of food from Food Bank of the Rockies gave us a start and the experience to go after other grants and donations,” said Bob Hummel, the foodbank director. “That was a big game changer that showed us we could do it, and really that we needed to do it if we wanted to know that folks who live in our community have the nutritious food and personal hygiene items they need.”