Cuyama Valley COVID-19 Relief Fund on Righteous Crowd this Week!
Cuyama Valley COVID-19 Relief Fund
Supplying Meals for Youth in Rural California
Tonight marks the first night of Passover. We begin the Maggid portion of the Haggadah, the storytelling portion, with the recital of “Ha Lachma Anya,” with the following: "This is the bread of affliction that our ancestors ate in Egypt. Let all who are hungry come and eat." In this spirit, we are supporting the Cuyama Valley COVID-19 Relief Fund which provides meals to youth in rural Northern Santa Barbara County, California.
Righteous Crowd is providing roughly 800 meals to the children of New Cuyama, California.
Righteous Crowd Members Eli and Savannah work at a restaurant, inn, bar and coffee shop called Cuyama Buckhorn, located in an area of Santa Barbara County called Cuyama Valley that has partnered with a local not-for-profit to create the relief fund.
Eli wrote to Righteous Crowd:
"COVID-19 has greatly affected our community. At a time when many parents have lost jobs and the school district remains closed, there is extreme added stress on households and our rural location makes the situation even more dire. Our school district has 1 high school and 1 elementary/middle school. Cuyama Valley School Meal Program provides meals for 256 youth in our valley between the ages of 1-18, five days a week. To ensure the youth of our valley can continue to have these meals, in which their families rely on, during this unprecedented time we have partnered with one of Cuyama’s nonprofit organizations, Blue Sky Center, who we work closely with on an ongoing basis on a variety of community efforts including our recent efforts to create a sustainable economy for our valley through a three-year grant, provided by Blue Sky Center, Rural Community Assistance Corporation and Santa Barbara County.
Together we have created the Cuyama Valley COVID-19 Relief Fund to raise funds to supplement, support and expand the school lunch program during this incredibly difficult time. All proceeds from the relief effort go directly to Blue Sky Center, to purchase food for preparation and distribution to those who need it most.
In addition to the Cuyama Valley COVID-19 Relief Fund, we are working to support our community by providing a market to supply additional essentials for the community; supporting additional local efforts to feed the elderly and vulnerable members of our community; and are working with our local farm/ranch agricultural partners to receive food donations to add to weekly household food deliveries. With Blue Sky Center we have also created a Cuyama Valley COVID-19 hotline to help provide resources and up-to-date information at this time. This community is extremely near and dear to our hearts and we appreciate anything you can do to help us support and show up for them.”
To learn more about Blue Sky Center and the Cuyama Valley COVID-19 Relief Fund, click here.