June 3, 2019 – A mistaken delivery at BriarPatch Food Co-op last week will help supplement food packages to area families experiencing food insecurity.
On Friday, BriarPatch Food Co-op and Clover Sonoma donated 10 cases totaling 300 pounds of butter to Interfaith Food Ministry (IFM) that will be distributed to local families who struggle to make ends meet.
“Clover sent us 15 cases of butter when we only ordered one. I love butter as much as the next person, but 300 pounds is a bit more than we reasonably can fit into our stock,” said John Bivens, Perishable Manager at BriarPatch.
That’s when Clover and BriarPatch hatched a plan to donate the mistake. Phil Alonso, Executive Director of IFM arrived on Friday to pick up the 10 cases that he says will last about a week.
“This will probably go quick because we have a lot of requests for butter. It’s really nice to get this donated and an extra special treat for families in need,” said Phil Alonso, Executive Director of IFM.
IFM is a nonprofit dedicated to providing supplemental food to families in Western Nevada County. They receive no government funds and rely completely on dollar and food donations and the work of 450 volunteers to feed 175 families a day, three times a week.
In 2018, IFM served 3,500 different households, or about 8,000 individuals.
“We continue to see more and more need,” said Alonso, who added that each year the number of people IFM serves grows by 3 – 5 percent.
Many of the people who come to IFM, are those struggling with the cost of living.
“A lot of our folks have income but it’s not enough,” said Alonso.
For several years, BriarPatch has participated in the Food Access Saturday Program, a partnership between IFM and United Way of Nevada County. BriarPatch supplies fresh, and local when possible, produce for 30-40 families through the program.