GRAND JUNCTION — On a cloudy, mid-July morning, a small group of volunteers began picking more than a ton of watermelons, 330 pounds of cucumbers and roughly 25 pounds of tomatoes on land that for decades has been used to research crop varieties, increase yields and control pests and diseases. Not so long ago, some […]
Food Bank of the Rockies
Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns
Opinion: For Colorado local governments, suing over climate change is not the answer
There’s an old saying that you should “dance with the one who brought you.” In Colorado, the oil and gas sector has been a major bright spot for jobs and economic growth, adding close to $13.5 billion to our state’s gross domestic product and providing important stability during the current coronavirus crisis. Around 90,000 Colorado families today […]
Posted inCOVID, Education, Health
Colorado college students, upended by coronavirus, are worried about food, housing and their education
From the 17th floor of Lawrenson Hall on the University of Northern Colorado campus in Greeley, Carson Pecot looks down at maybe 100 cars parked in lots that would normally hold many times more. The 22-year-old junior might see one or two students during his daily run, or when he heads to the dining hall […]
Posted inBusiness, Coloradans, COVID, Health, News
Record unemployment is leading to unprecedented food insecurity in Colorado
Mothers in Parachute cannot find formula to feed their babies. Isolated residents near Fairplay lack access to food. Unhoused people quarantined in a Denver motel need all meals brought to them. Migrant workers in Pueblo are without rice and beans. With unemployment about 30 times higher than the Great Recession’s peak— 231,610 initial claims were filed with […]
Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns
Opinion: The coronavirus exploits vulnerabilities associated with inequality and health disparities
Even for those of us who do not become ill, it is easy to become frustrated by the impact of COVID-19 on our daily lives. Many working parents have become homeschool teachers; stores and restaurants we count on have closed; and certain aisles in the grocery store have become barren wastelands. As frustrating as those […]
Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns
Wilson: Struggle of Love Foundation distributes food to those hit hardest by coronavirus crisis
Putting on my mask and rubber gloves, I joined the volunteer warriors unloading the semi truck at 12000 E. 47th Ave. in Denver. Most of us would have been working at this time, but with record unemployment, we were sent home with no word of a return date. Rather than staring at the wall, Netflix […]
Posted inCOVID, News
At a time they’re needed most, Colorado food banks brace for fewer volunteers, shutdown of smaller pantries amid coronavirus fears
Inside the cavernous Denver warehouse, Laura Helmkamp guided a pallet mover through aisles stacked high with packaged food, pulling select goods that very soon would find their way to hungry Coloradans. She’d taken a half-day from her job as a statistician at the University of Colorado’s Anschutz Campus to volunteer at Food Bank of the […]
Posted inColoradans, Health, News, Politics and Government
Polis taps Food Bank of the Rockies leader to head state human services; promotes deputy to director at Personnel Administration
Gov. Jared Polis’ office announced two new executive directors for state government Friday, leaving one cabinet position open a month after taking office. Food Bank of the Rockies interim president Michelle Barnes will become executive director of the Colorado Department of Human Services, which oversees the state’s child welfare division, youth corrections and mental hospitals. […]