Jeans are more comfy for some. Alamosa County employees proved so as a fundraiser for the Food Bank Network of the San Luis Valley.
If an employee in the Alamosa County Treasurer’s Office and Alamosa County Clerk & Recorder’s Office wanted to go from business casual to wearing a pair of jeans on a particular day in November, it cost $1 a day for the privilege to do so.
The Alamosa County Assessor’s Office had the same incentive for its employees, except it was $5 for the week.
The “wear jeans” incentive was a way for Alamosa County employees to raise money and awareness in support of the food bank network during its time of need when federal SNAP benefits came to a halt in November.
Employees who participated, along with Alamosa County Treasurer Amy McKinley and Alamosa County Assessor Jason Duncan, made the donation official with a check presentation Tuesday to SLV Food Bank Director Annalise Baer.
“I’m so grateful. Every bit makes a huge difference,” Baer told the gathering of county employees. “Things were pretty rough in November. At the beginning of that month, I had no idea how we were going to meet the need and just the outpouring of support from the community made such a difference.”
Alamosa County Treasurer Amy McKinley had the idea for the “wear jeans” initiative and got her fellow county elected officials to go along.
“They participated with a smile on their face,” she said of employees. “I think people gave what they felt like they could afford to give and I knew Annalise could make the money could go further than if we brought a canned good.”
Alamosa County Assessor Jason Duncan’s twist was $5 for the week. Some employees, he said, prepaid up until the end of the year.
“It was a good turnout. It was a good idea from Amy’s side and we were happy to participate and help anyway we could,” said Duncan.
For Baer the support was more validation that Alamosans would step up when the need was greatest.
“We’ve just seen incredible support since the announcement started to come out about the government shutdown and how that might impact food security in the Valley,” she said. “We received an outpouring of donations and inquiries about helping to volunteer.”
From school children hosting canned food drives to business offices staging fundraisers like the Alamosa County “wear jeans” to work incentive, Baer said the support has made a difference for the Valley’s 15 food banks.
“It just felt like there was this massive effort to raise awareness and funds and food for the food banks across the Valley. Genuinely, we could not have gotten through that month without that help.”