JACKSON, Wyo. — It’s hard to quantify the cumulative toll the COVID-19 pandemic is taking on Teton County. The full economic impact will take months, maybe years to fully comprehend, and we may never be able to measure the emotional strain that isolation and unemployment take on a community.
But there are things we can measure, and many of them are good. A new campaign from the Community Foundation of Jackson Hole and produced by Orijin Media illustrates where the Community Foundation’s Emergency Response Fund money is going and the impact the funds have already made.
“It really paints a picture of the money being put into action,” said Anne Bradley, director of marketing and communications at the Community Foundation.
And the picture is impressive. The Community Foundation has raised more than $1.4 million dollars to be distributed to local nonprofits who are helping people directly impacted by COVID-19.
Thanks to funds from the Community Response Fund, One22 has been able to help more than 300 families pay for rent, food, and medicine, and that number is growing every day.
“We’re just one donor for that program,” Bradley admitted. But they’re the biggest donor.
KHOL has used the funds to broadcast critical COVID-19 information in Spanish. Hole Food Rescue served 195 free meals over spring break to local kids who might not otherwise have gotten lunch that day. The Good Samaritan Mission was able to refill an empty pantry to feed Jackson’s homeless community. The Fund for Public Education supplied 100 Teton County School District students with wireless hotspots so they can continue to learn in this new internet-only age.
“In order to get credit for remote schooling, each district had to ensure all kids had internet access to get lesson plans, zoom, and email,” Bradley said. “We helped the Fund for Public Education get funding for those wireless hotspots, which they’ve now given to 100 students in the community that didn’t have internet access.”
The situation, and the Community Foundation’s response to it, is rapidly evolving. “We’re evaluating almost daily what needs are as they come up and figuring out how to support them,” Bradley said. In the best-case scenario, the Community Foundation is able to approve grand applications and distribute funds in 24 hours or less. Sometimes it requires more time and consideration, but the underlying question is always how the Community Foundation can help other organizations help the community.
“Some organizations, especially those on the front lines, are so preoccupied with serving the community that they’re not out there fundraising,” Bradley said. “To have a funding source like this that’s already in place is a huge gift.”
Orijin has several COVID-19 public awareness campaigns in the works, but this one is perhaps the most impactful, said COO Scott Page. “We’ve worked with a majority of the nonprofits that are involved, and it’s nice to have a safety net in the Community Foundation.”
Plus, it’s helped keep Orijin’s lights on while they’re working from home. And as far as Bradley is concerned, they “nailed it.”
“I’m really pleased with how it turned out,” Bradley said. “They really figured out what we were trying to get out there.”
The graphic is currently circulating on social media, in print ads, and digital ads on Buckrail.
