In light of the recent pandemic, we look forward to sharing positive stories about how our clients and community members are responding. We know this is a challenging time for many, and we are here to support you. We hope that by sharing these very brief stories, others will feel they are not alone. We encourage everyone to lift up one another and share their stories.
Issaquah Food & Clothing Bank is committed to providing healthy, fresh foods and essential items to families in the Issaquah region. COVID-19 forced them to rethink their priorities and operations. Ostara connected with the to learn more about how they are adapting to serve their clients:
“The IFCB has undergone strategy and contingency planning from a progressive approach, understanding that our model would need the ability to adapt as the situation evolved. We started by identifying our top two priorities, then what the current restrictions are, weighed against those priorities. What we came up with was a model for engaging volunteers, donors, and even clients that, #1 put everyone’s health as a top priority, and #2 ensured that we were doing the best we could to continue the most basic aspects of our mission: providing food and diapers to a growing population of individuals in need. We’ve altered our model twice since March 16th to adapt to the growing need for reduced exposure, yet kept the process and communication pieces simple and clear for clients, volunteers, and donors to continue to engage with as few barriers as possible.
I think our organization has learned some priceless things through all of this. We’ve learned that all of us, regardless of whether we are program, operations, or development staff, have the same values and commitment to our mission. We’ve learned that we can operate extremely effectively, even when all our normal processes have been turned upside down, and we’re not working side by side. We’ve also learned that consistent and clear communication can calm an anxious client and rally an army of supporters during a crisis.
To the members of the nonprofit community, now’s the time to be more willing than ever to think outside the box. With priorities and resources looking so differently during this crisis, now’s the time to ask what your role is and how you can change your paradigm to maintain your relevance by adapting.”
– Bonnie DeCaro-Monahan, Development Director at Issaquah Food & Clothing Bank
To learn more about the Issaquah Food & Clothing Bank and how you can support their mission: https://www.issaquahfoodbank.org/
We would love to hear how your organization has been adapting to provide services to your clients and how we can support you during this time. Please reach out to us online here.