Together, we can do so much more!

Wyoming Hunger Initiative was launched in 2019 with two tenants in mind: one, to never reinvent the wheel and two, to be in all twenty-three Wyoming counties. There are grassroots efforts in every Wyoming county dedicated to reducing hunger and combating food insecurity. Instead, Wyoming Hunger Initiative aims to increase awareness and support for the work of local anti-hunger organizations statewide.

Through the relationships that have been developed across the state specific to food insecurity, Wyoming Hunger Initiative has identified partners in every community. Thanks to a grant from the Hughes Charitable Foundation, Wyoming Hunger Initiative was able to host its first Regional Summit in Natrona County earlier this month to bring folks together who are working in this space.

The result? A whole lot of networking, sharing of resources, and collaboration that will lead Natrona County forward together while also producing realistic action items that are already underway.

The event kicked off with a volunteer recognition celebration where anti-hunger organizations in Natrona County nominated a volunteer from their organization to be recognized. Without the countless volunteers across the county, this work wouldn't be possible.

Carolyn Eaton was recognized during the volunteer recognition dinner for her dedication to Joshua's Storehouse

Each volunteer that was recognized also received a plaque thanks to the Hughes Charitable Foundation to commemorate their service

LeAnn Miller from the Wyoming Food Coalition was honored as a key volunteer. It can be noted that she volunteers for a variety of organizations and makes the world of difference

Mark Smith from the Helping Hands Community Services at Radius Church was joined by his fellow volunteers to be honored for his service to the food pantry

Kay Eichorn joined Hunter Christensen from the Hughes Charitable Foundation in honoring Renee Rodger as one of three exceptional volunteers that serves at the Alcova Community Church Food Bank

The following volunteers were recognized at this inaugural event:

• Renee Rodger, Alcova Community Church Food Pantry

• Mark Smith, Helping Hands Community Services at Radius Church

• Larry Baros, Salvation Army Casper Corps

• Greta Hinderliter, Unaccompanied Students Initiative

• Amy Allaire, Wyoming Rescue Mission

• Sid Glanz, Wyoming Rescue Mission

• Brian Bowen, Poverty Resistance

• Susan Stranton, Wyoming Food for Thought Project

• Tracy Padilla, Food Bank of Wyoming

• Nicole Arner, Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Wyoming

• Carolyn Eaton, Joshua's Storehouse

• Ron Parmely, Joshua's Storehouse

• LeeAnn Miller, Wyoming Food Coalition

• All of the volunteers associated with the City Park Giving Table Food Pantry

We even took the opportunity to honor Dan's Meat Processing, one of our Casper Food from the Field processors, and presented them with the "annual cup" for 2020 for processing the most number of pounds of donated game. As we know, it takes everyone to be on board to fight food insecurity in Wyoming.

Dan's Meat Processing pictured with Molly Hughes and Hunter Christensen from the Hughes Charitable Foundation

The next day we got down to business by taking a hard look at what we can do to improve and expand resources for anti-hunger organizations in Natrona County. Together with sixteen different agencies, we identified challenges, brainstormed solutions, and developed a list of realistic action items.

The following anti-hunger organizations were involved with the first annual Wyoming Hunger Initiative Regional Summit in Natrona County.

• Alcova Community Food Pantry

• Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Wyoming

• Casper Housing Authority

• Cent$ible Nutrition Program

• City Park Church

• Dan's Meat Processing

• Edible Prairie Project

• Food Bank of Wyoming

• Joshua's Storehouse

• Poverty Resistance

• Radius Church

• Salvation Army, Casper Corps

• Unaccompanied Students Initiative

• Wyoming Food Coalition

• Wyoming Food for Thought Project

• Wyoming Rescue Mission

• Wyoming 211
  

It is safe to say that this group is "all in" when it comes to fighting food insecurity in Wyoming. We look forward to the continued collaboration and the work that will take place in the coming year thanks to the passion and commitment of these organizations.

Lastly, Wyoming Hunger Initiative board members and regional directors traveled to be part of this first-time event. The passion that you see here is what drives the work that Wyoming Hunger Initiative has done and continues to do. Thank you for joining us!