Flint River Fresh, the Flint River Soil and Water Conservation District’s Urban Agriculture Program, is working alongside private, small businesses in Albany to serve residents impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic through the launch of a pilot Produce Box Program over the next two weeks. Flint River Fresh, a 501(c)(3) organization based in Dougherty County, is committed to continuing their mission of increased access to fresh, healthy produce in these unprecedented times.
The Flint River Fresh pilot Produce Box Program, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, will provide a hot meal and produce box to community members in need.
“Now more than ever we see a need in our community for access to healthy, fresh produce,” says Fredando Jackson, Executive Director of Flint River Fresh. “While we’ve shifted our primary activities away from direct community engagement events and volunteer work, Flint River Fresh will continue growing and distributing food to those in need in our community.”
Flint River Fresh, with generous support from an anonymous locally owned business, has committed to covering the costs to serve a hot meal to community members in need, and provide each with a produce box to take home.
As much as possible, produce for the produce boxes will be sourced from Flint River Fresh community sites, primarily from the Flint River Fresh and Phoebe Putney Community Urban Farm in downtown Albany, and supplemented with produce from the State Farmers Market in Moultrie.
Flint River Fresh is working directly with locally owned businesses to determine specific needs of the community and allocate these resources. This pilot project will last for 14 days, and in this time 210 produce boxes will be provided to different individuals that have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
This 14 day pilot period will allow Flint River Fresh and partners to analyze success, impact, and feasibility of the program. With identified need and additional support from local private businesses, this program may be sustained and expanded.
Stewbos, a locally owned restaurant and hospitality business, has been a key partner assisting in logistics coordination of providing meals and identifying local restaurant business recipients for this pilot program.
Flint River Fresh has also committed to serving community needs during this time by launching Community Farm Markets on the Flint River Fresh and Phoebe Putney Community Urban Farm site. This allows local farmers to sell produce directly to consumers in the community in a safe, secure manner.
Flint River Fresh has taken extra precaution to protect staff and the Albany community during this time by adopting stringent protocols. Currently, all volunteer and community events and workshops have been cancelled, and additional sanitation and social distancing protocol is in effect for both staff maintaining community sites and participants in Community Farm Markets. Please visit www.flintriverfresh.org/covid19 to read more about Flint River Fresh’s COVID-19 safety protocols, and to learn more about Community Farm Markets.
If you are interested in supporting Flint River Fresh’s work, donating needed sanitation supplies, directly supporting the continuation of the Produce Box Program, or if you are a local business in need, please contact info@flintriverfresh.org.
Flint River Fresh is a 501(c)(3) organization that aims to make fresh, locally-grown produce accessible and affordable for people throughout the Flint River Region, while empowering community and youth through education and outreach opportunities. Visit www.flintriverfresh.org to learn more.