Throughout the second USDA Farmers to Families Food Box distribution day in Sitka, dozens of cars were backed up onto the O’Connell Bridge while folks waited patiently to get a box to help feed their families and loved ones. The moment the 10,000-plus pounds were gone and we had to start turning people away was sobering because we saw just how many families in Sitka are suffering from economic hardships and food insecurity this year. COVID-19 has impacted everyone, disrupting food supply systems and leaving people without jobs all over the world. Rural Alaska is not immune, but Alaskans know the importance of collective care.
The community of Sitka compassionately stepped up to ensure that friends, neighbors, and those most in need stayed nourished.
The Sitka Conservation Society established Sitka Mutual Aid (SMA), a network that helps Sitkans stand in solidarity with one another by connecting requests for help with offers of support and funding. So far, SMA has coordinated the distribution of $60,000 in direct food assistance to the community by fulfilling over 900 gift card requests, mobilizing volunteers to distribute groceries and special foods, and working with local businesses, Beak Restaurant and Our Town Catering, to make free meals featuring wild, local fish. Photo by Bethany Sonsini Goodrich.
The Sitka Tribe of Alaska (STA) continued to provide an abundance of traditional foods to tribal citizens. Their harvests included 4,500 pounds of herring eggs, 200 pounds of Tlingit potatoes, seaweeds, and sockeye salmon. COVID-19 required adaptations and precautions, but STA was still able to help distribute traditional foods to elders and those in need. Additionally, STA used some of their CARES funds to purchase local halibut and king salmon and a larger freezer to meet increased demands, which also helped the local fishermen and economy. Photo by Bethany Sonsini Goodrich.
The Alaska Native Brotherhood and Alaska Native Sisterhood hold annual holiday meals for the community of Sitka. This year Sitkans could not share Thanksgiving dinner in the ANB Hall, but more than 600 warm turkey meals were distributed with the help of over 50 volunteers and support from the Sitka Tribe of Alaska, the City of Sitka, The Alaska Community Foundation, the Sitka Conservation Society, and Sitka Mutual Aid. Photos by Lione Clare.
Sitka’s AC Lakeside was the first of Alaska Commercial Co. stores to distribute produce and dairy in the state. A total of 341,000 pounds (2,000 boxes) fed Sitkans over eight weeks. Alaska Commercial was awarded the initial USDA Farmers to Families Food Box program contract from the USDA to distribute food in communities statewide. This program was designed to keep American farmers and distributors working, while supporting increased demand at places serving Americans in need. The Sitka team developed a seamless system built on strong community relationships. The Sitka Chamber of Commerce helped set up ten local nonprofit organizations that performed the distributions. High school students were hired to help break down food quantities for families and dozens of volunteers helped on the ground. Photo by Lione Clare.
COVID-19 has affected the seafood industry throughout the state. In Sitka, the Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association, Sitka Salmon Shares, Seafood Producers Cooperative, and Catch Sitka are examples of organizations and businesses that worked hard to feed the community by supporting local fishermen and processors, providing healthy local seafood to those in need, through various donation programs. Photo by Lione Clare.
The USDA Summer Food Service Program was locally administered by the Sitka Conservation Society and sponsored by Kids Kupboard, in partnership with the Sitka Tribe of Alaska and Youth Advocates of Sitka. This program served over 40,000 free breakfast and lunch meals to youths in Sitka, some including seafood donated by local organizations and businesses. Photos by Lione Clare.
Joni J. Elisoff grins while she opens her smokehouse filled with seal meat and braided intestines. Robert Miller of Sea Fur Sewing donates all the meat from the seals he harvests for hides. Several other local businesses and individuals across the community increased their efforts to provide elders with traditional and wild foods during the pandemic. Photos by Bethany Sonsini Goodrich.
The community of Sitka has always had food security issues and organizations like the local Salvation Army, Sitka Tribe of Alaska, and several churches provide ongoing efforts to feed Sitkans in need, persevering despite new challenges and increased demand induced by COVID-19.
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