I think we can all agree, 2020 has been tough. I have family and friends who have lost loved ones, homes, and jobs. I don’t want to minimize or forget any of them, however, I am choosing not to throw in the towel and just wait for 2021. Instead, I am focusing on all the opportunities the challenges have created this year.

Of course, COVID-19 was the major monkey wrench thrown into this year. We changed our delivery model to minimize contact and keep our clients, volunteers, staff, and community as safe as possible. Instead of delivering a hot meal every weekday, we are now delivering a week of frozen meals every Tuesday. While that is not everyone’s favorite way to get a meal, a number of our clients have expressed a preference for this model because they have more choices of what meal to eat each day. Because of this, we are working to offer both options when we return to daily deliveries. We may have never thought of this new model if it weren’t for the pandemic.

COVID also caused us to close our lobby to volunteers. We can’t safely have that many people in our building. During this closure, we have been able to give our lobby and offices a refresh with new flooring, paint, and more. Something we could not have done as easily or inexpensively if we did not close the lobby.

Unrelated to the pandemic was the relocation of our Volunteer Manager, Julia, which opened the door to hire our newest team member, Stephanie, as our new Program Director. The timing was perfect!

The change in our delivery model also forced us to transition from an outdated Microsoft Access database to Salesforce. We were fortunate to have been working on this transition because our new weekly delivery model is not something the old database could manage. The push to Salesforce has proven to be very beneficial allowing us to keep better records and learn even more about our services, donors, and program.

I am very excited about all of the positive changes we have accomplished in a very difficult year. I am focusing on the good things that 2020 has brought us, and hope you will see all the good as well.

Jeffrey Pomranka
Executive Director