Getting food to the people who need it most during the pandemic has been a primary concern for many nonprofit organizations but what if the food being donated doesn t suit the needs of the people on the receiving end? That s the dilemma the Rocky Mountain Welcome Center was facing last spring and summer as the nonprofit s primary mission of helping immigrants and refugees integrate into new communities in metro Denver shifted to helping them simply survive the economic hardships created by the pandemic.
Jennifer Gueddiche, chief operating officer for the Welcome Center, says it wasn t enough to count on food banks and pantry donations to get food for the organization s clients, since many of them come from cultures where American staples are either unfamiliar or unsuitable for their religious and cultural requirements. Orthodox Christians and Muslims from Ethiopia, Somalia, Djibouti and Eritrea form a large part of the Welcome Center s clientele, so ensuring that halal meats, vege