Whispers of a potential pandemic coming to the U.S. started in January, by March states were on shutdown and by early April, the City of Good initiative was created. The City of Good is a nonprofit organization that was created to help feed the Boise community, put people back to work, and continue making our local community stronger in wake of the COVID-19 crisis.
According to The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics for the City of Boise, the unemployment rate has gone from 2.6% in March of 2020 to a 9.2% unemployment rate in May 2020. Nearly tripling, people were desperately looking for solutions.
Photo Credit: Boise School District Community Schools
Quick to spring into action with the City of Good initiative was Russ Stoddard, owner, and president of Oliver Russell.
“We started it along with a number of community rockstars,” said Stoddard adding “ We were super quick to act”.
Founding rockstars includeTreefort Music Fest, KIN, Bittercreek Alehouse, and The Original Boise Co-Op. So how does this initiative work? City of Good teamed up with Boise School District, specifically Title 1 elementary schools in the Boise Area. The City of Good then works with partnering restaurants to make weekend meal kits for the children. Each kit provides 5 meals that are based on providing children with nutritious and local ingredients. But where does the City of Good get their funds? The initiative does rely on community members to help continue their mission.
The City of Good accepts donations in a variety of ways. Those ways include, simply donating to the cause and the other way is by purchasing a $15 boxed lunch. $5 goes back into City of Good and the other $10 goes back into the local restaurants, ensuring employment for the staff. By working with local restaurants, the City of Good is actually helping maintain job employment.
The City of Good intertwines feeding the community, maintaining employment for the service industry for the benefit of Idaho’s local agriculture industry. This initiative has genuinely good intentions.
“The goal is to make the community better,” said Stoddard.
Photo Credit: Guy Hand