OUR forever home
With over 200 volunteers and an ever-growing volume of rescued food, we are determined to do even more for our community. By donating to our capital campaign, you can help us achieve our mission of making a deeper impact.
more space.
BIGGER IMPACT.
Since 2013, Hole Food Rescue (HFR) has led Teton County’s effort to reduce food waste and food insecurity. Our community’s need for free and rescued food increased radically during the pandemic, and it persists as our cost of living skyrockets.
Hole Food Rescue is launching our Forever Home Capital Campaign to raise $3 million to finance and renovate our new home. Additional space is critical to reinforce our impact and permanence in the community. Our Forever Home Capital Campaign will allow us to secure the purchase of the building and cover renovations. This is HFR’s first-ever capital campaign and the first major financial ask of donors.
Contributing to the Forever Home Capital Campaign reinforces the community’s belief in our mission and secures our ability to serve our neighbors for years to come. If you believe in reducing food waste and cultivating food security, please consider a donation to our forever home today!
Our forever home
Teton county today
Since 2020, Jackson has experienced a shocking 13% increase in the cost of living. Basic needs like rent, food, utilities, and health & child care, have increased even more.
The cost of living in Teton County is 65% above the statewide average.
In Teton County’s 2021 Community Health Needs Assessment, 9.5% of households considered themselves food insecure. Teton County School District #1 reported that 20% of children need free or reduced-priced lunches.
These are staggering figures and validation that our programs have become essential for the well-being of our neighbors.
Hole food rescue today
Food rescues and program outreach has been rapidly expanding for the last nine years, and our current facility is bursting at the seams:
we have pushed out a wall for a walk-in refrigerator to maximize food storage
used a gifted horse trailer and storage unit south of town to stash supplies
retrofitted our front office for food prep which then forced us to move four employees to rented office space
This year, we witnessed how these “band-aids” no longer work, and worse, hinder our programs. Sprout Weekend Food Bags benefits 122 families in Teton County, approximately 20% of the “known” need. With food rescues at an all-time high and a lack of storage space, we were unable to fully open enrollment to additional families mid-school-year. We are aware there are more families that need our support but are incapable due to our restricted facility.
In 2030, Hole Food Rescue will rescue approximately 1300 pounds of food each day.
HOLE FOOD RESCUE programs that support our community
Food Rescue – Daily food rescues fuel our impactful response to food insecurity in Teton County. In 2013, the year Hole Food Rescue (HFR) began, we rescued 33,970 pounds of food. Last year, our volunteers rescued 336,206 pounds. This equates to an average of 920 pounds of food daily and an increase of 890% over the last nine years. Since our inception, HFR has saved over two million pounds of food from landfill. By 2030, we project this number will be closer to five million pounds.
Food For the Community // Comida de la Comunidad (FFC) – By bringing rescued food to where participants live, work, and visit, this direct-to-community model focuses on reducing barriers inherent to traditional food access, such as time, location, language, and choice. We’ve grown to nine locations over the last three years, serving approximately 300 families each month. In 2022, we saw 13,000 individual visits at our various locations, compared to 515 in 2020.
Sprout Weekend Food Bags (WFB) – Currently, 250 children receive food bags to ensure they have enough healthy meals to eat over the weekend. Bags can be given discreetly to a child at school, delivered to their home, or picked up at the Hole Food Rescue Hub. These three options are offered to families to reduce the stigma associated with receiving food assistance. This program has grown 186% since 2020.
Sprout Summer Lunch Program – This program picks up where Weekend Food Bags leaves off, providing free lunches to children possibly facing food insecurity throughout the eleven weeks of summer. In 2022, we provided 7,300 lunches to children - a 16% increase since 2020.
we need your help
The new facility provides the necessary space that will enable us to:
Rescue more food and expand our most valued programs for the community.
Double our food storage with increased walk-in fridge and freezer space. 100 additional square feet of storage capacity enables us to rescue and distribute more food.
Provide food for more children through our Weekend Food Bag program. We estimate in the first year, we can impact 200 families during the 2023/2024 semester.
Prepare more lunches for children benefiting from our Sprout Summer Lunch program. Operations will be streamlined and more efficient using our own kitchen.
Use food to its full potential. Convert excess produce into healthful make-ahead meals, like soups and frittatas in a new prep space and kitchen.
YOU CAN HELP US MAKE AN IMPACT
The Construction & Design Team