Earlier this spring, many members of the downtown Omaha business community took the difficult but important step of asking their employees to work remotely. These steps followed national and state guidelines to try and flatten the curve on the spread of this very dangerous disease. While this was obviously the right decision, it has been difficult for the businesses and the employees who have had their regular work and service to Omaha’s downtown area so disrupted.
At this point, several weeks into the self-quarantine, we feel called upon to do everything we can to lessen the burden on our community members during this very challenging time.
For us, that means that The Omaha Downtown Improvement District Foundation will be making a $5,000 contribution in support of a mobile grocery distribution operation in and around the downtown area. This food pantry is focused on helping offset expenses for those workers and community members whose livelihoods have been most disrupted by widespread work from home polices among other things.
The location of the pantry will rotate around the downtown area – from the Old Market, to the Capitol District to the Orpheum District, etc. and employees will be invited to come to the weekly pantry and take what they need. $5,000 will support approximately 250 people. The food that will be offered will be a wide variety of produce, staples, some fast, casual frozen favorites and comfort foods. Each location will also put in extensive social distancing logistics to ensure a safe environment for both volunteers and employees. ODID would like to extend an invitation to participate in this effort. Your generous contribution would provide food for additional employees and allow us to continue this program for as long as the need persists.
We would also encourage those that would want to volunteer their time at the pantries to sign up at OmahaDowntown.org under the news section on the homepage.
Thank you for your consideration of this important cause, and please let us know if you have any questions or concerns please contact us at Holly@omahadowntown.org.
The link to donate online is: OmahaGives.com/OmahaDowntown
