Community In Need: OCCF Works to Fund New Pathways to Bridge the Gap

Finding people who need food is not difficult, even in Oldham County, especially during a pandemic. In October, Perfect Pact in partnership with the Red Cross, distributed twelve hundred (1,200) boxes of fresh food to apartment complexes, non-profits, and churches in the community.  With tears of gratitude, the recipients opened food boxes to find milk, meat, cheese, fruit, and vegetables.

Oldham County has four food banks:   the Oldham County Red Cross, Beulah Baptist Church, Highpoint, and Grace & Glory Church.  Earlier in the spring, OCCF funded two area food distribution centers to support neighbors in need – through Dare to Care for distribution to our four food banks, and to the Oldham County Red Cross Food Pantry.  In addition, the OCCF-funded Red Cross Victory Garden was established last year to improve the quality of food given to those in our community.

One in six Kentuckians live with food insecurity, and much of the food that is available is unhealthy.  The pandemic has only made matters worse – in every way. However, the Oldham County Community Foundation is working to develop a logistics supplier.  The mission will be to bring farm products and food that would otherwise end up wasted to neighborhoods and local service providers who can use, store, and distribute the fresh food.

The supplier will be the hub, our local nonprofit organizations the spokes, and the OCCF the wheel. Help us keep the momentum going and the wheels turning toward better nutrition for a healthier, more content population.

Contributed by, Pamela Conniff, OCCF Advisory Board Member