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Food/Meal Backpacks

This project is being led by a community member. The project aims to provide backpacks full of snack and meal items once a week to students that ride the bus from Pagosa Springs to Dulce where some 25 families have currently enrolled their children in the Archuleta School District. This food is to provide nourishment to children that are riding the bus. The food will be distributed in reusable tote/freezer backpacks and the food items will include Mac and Cheese, Apple Sauce, canned meat and fruit. 
Cost: $2,000

Heritage Cooking Classes

This project is being led by community members. This project provides cooking lessons and ingredients to some 25 families once a week for three weeks as well as an opportunity to share in the social experience of cooking together virtually. The menus are heritage Mexican cuisine. The project aims to use as much local foods and produce as possible in the menus. 
Cost: $2,025

Geothermal Greenhouse Partnership (GGP)

This project is being led by the Geothermal Greenhouse Partnership (GGP) Board. If awarded the $3000, the GGP can purchase 24 full spectrum lights to add growing hours and pay a temporary qualified staff person to mentor volunteers. Lengthening growing hours and teaching growing techniques will enable GGP to provide more fresh ingredients to multiple competing projects, including the Backpack Project, Heritage Cooking Class, the Ingredient Box Project as well as the After Hours Pantry. Providing fresh produce during the winter months is one of the benefits of the GGP and these funds can help extend its growing capacity. 
Cost: $3,000

Snack Program

This project is being led by the United Methodist Women and they are requesting funds to provide weekly healthy snacks to the Pagosa Springs Middle School for the duration of the school year. Using the school district guidelines, they will provide shelf-stable snacks that are low in sodium, low in fat and low in sugar. Due to requirements associated with COVID, the school can provide only sack lunches rather than a full meal from the cafeteria service. Lunches are scheduled both early and later in the day, resulting in children having longer periods of time without food. The snack program ensures all students regardless of economic need have access to a healthy and nutritious midday snack, allowing them to focus on their education and not hunger. 
Cost: $3,000

Online Pagosa Farmers Market

The Coalition’s Growers Group will build an online system on a WordPress platform to provide local and regional food year-round to customers.  The cost will allow for a customized virtual storefront to meet our local needs as well as first year domain and hosting costs plus plug-in licensing fees.  By providing a year-round sales venue, the project will encourage local entrepreneurship by growers, farmers and ranchers and cottage food producers, increasing both healthy economic activity and our local food supply. It will also encourage involvement by vendors and customers who are unable or unwilling to participate in the live market due to physical constraints or COVID-19 precautions. Finally, it will include functionality that supports making food more affordable for those who need that support by accepting SNAP and Double Up Bucks and COVID-19 benefits. 
Cost: $3,200

 Gift Cards

Four local agencies are coming together to provide gift cards for vulnerable populations in Archuleta County. Agencies, taken together, cover a wide cross section of vulnerable populations including single parent households, elderly, disabled, and low income families; all are in varying levels of crisis in our community.  Program participants will soon face an unexpected and drastic decrease in assistance for food, or are in crisis in other forms in our community.  Each program will provide Root Connections materials to bring families together virtually and build social capital by helping families learn how to grow healthy foods in their own backyards.  Gift cards to our local grocery store will also improve access to affordable, healthy food and education classes will offset negative health outcomes associated with poor nutrition. 
Cost: $4,500

Ingredient Box/Pagosa Fresh

This project is being led by student ambassadors from Beyond Words International. This project aims to buy local and non-local ingredients to make a sliding scale ingredient box subscription. There are three tiers from free, to reduce costs to full price. The ingredient boxes come once a week with a menu for a family to cook together using the ingredients for the box. If the GGP also wins, this project will work in collaboration with the GGP to provide local produce for the winter months that could be used in the ingredient box. 
Cost: $,5000

After Hours Pantry

This project is being led by the Food Pantry Network in Archuleta County as well as Pagosa Peak Open School (PPOS). It is about meeting people where they are and providing food boxes during hours outside normal food pantry hours. Every Monday for 3 weeks in December, boxes will be available from 3pm-4pm for PPOS families, and boxes will be available to the whole community from 4pm-6pm. This program will help the Pantry Network understand the effectiveness of an after-hours site for food pick up as well as understand whether there are families in need that are not benefiting from current pantry schedules. 
Cost: $4,880

Biodegradable Food Containers

This idea allows Pagosa Peak Open School (PPOS) to distribute COVID safe meals to students (breakfast and lunch), ensuring that our students have access to food at school. Originally, we had planned to have meals staggered and be able to utilize reusable dishes and silverware. Sadly, COVID changed our plans and all meals are served in each classroom simultaneously. Disposable containers and utensils allow us to ensure that each student's meal is COVID safe. This came as an unexpected cost to the school, making equitable food distribution that ensures safe meals a financial hurdle for our school. 
Cost: $7,000