Dear Foundation Friends,
How do we give each other what we need right now? The roads we drive, the stores where we shop, our wild spaces, and the restaurants where we eat, all cross paths. We share our daily lives more intimately in this small community, and that overlap means that we stretch to help each other. Masks, distancing, and kindness are tools we can use to take care of each other.
I have some thoughts about masks. Comic book characters wear masks: Spiderman, Black Panther, Elektra, Iron Man. Even Deadpool wears a mask. As fictional as they are, these characters also represent heroism. Admittedly, some of their masks would not work in today’s viral climate. Eye masks are mysterious, but a nose and mouth covering will suffice. We need to be everyday heroes for each other right now.
We have nonprofit heroes in our community as well. The stories this week highlight the efforts of our nonprofit partners via grants from the Community Emergency Response Fund.
- No child in Teton County should go hungry. These past weeks, the Response Fund has provided support for collaborative efforts that feed children and families during this uncertain time. In fact, the Presbyterian Church served 275 free meals last Thursday alone. Summertime can be more difficult for children experiencing food insecurity because there is no school lunch program. An anonymous donor has made a generous challenge gift of $25,000 to help feed children through the summer. Donations to the Community Emergency Response Fund this coming week qualify to match, and this doubles your impact. If you would like to help, please donate by June 6 and designate your gift by noting “food.”
- Clients of Teton Free Clinic receive healthcare free of cost when they have no insurance or live at or below 200% of federal poverty guidelines. Clients who have diabetes usually pay a fraction of the cost for insulin, and Teton Free Clinic covers the remainder. In the past few months, clients who have lost their jobs cannot afford to pay for insulin. The Community Emergency Response Fund is covering three months of insulin costs in partnership with the Free Clinic.
- In the first half of May, One22 granted almost $600,000 in financial aid to individuals experiencing reduced or no income. In the video attached to this email, Executive Director, Sharel Lund, said, “In a typical year, we would work with 150 applications for financial aid. COVID-19 has brought 2,000 individual households to One22 Resource Center, seeking financial assistance.” The Community Foundation called One22 immediately when the crisis hit. Sharel said, “The Community Foundation was one of the first indicators that this was going to get real here. They were one of the first phone calls to say people are really going to be hurting and One22 needs to be there.” The Foundation is pleased to assist the nonprofit heroes at One22, as they support our community members.
I look forward to crossing paths with you as summer unfolds. I have blue eyes, and they’re smiling above my mask.
Wishing you good health,
Laurie Andrews
President, Community Foundation of Jackson Hole
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