As we reflect back on 2020, we are proud of what we accomplished this year in the face of so many challenges. Let us be the first to say that the good work the CCFP Roundtable has done is only possible because of the incredible, life changing work that you, our CACFP partners, do. Thank you for putting the communities you serve first – as you always do. You have made all the difference in countless people's lives.
There were many hard times in 2020, but we want to say goodbye to this year by remembering how we all came together to fight the good fight.
In January, we launched our new website with many new member benefits, like our public blog with all the most important CACFP news, RT TV, a private member community, and more.
On March 1st at the National CACFP Forum Conference, the CCFP Roundtable sounded the alarms to USDA that coronavirus could wreak havoc on CACFP's ability to feed people in care settings - and indeed it did.
Over the remainder of the year we advocated to ensure that CACFP was able to meet the current needs in our communities and also survive to see another year.
We held bi-monthly CACFP & COVID-19 townhalls and created a regulatory resource page to connect the community, bring in policy experts, and advance best practices in this ever-changing environment.
We collected stories from the field to elevate the real experiences the CACFP community is having during the pandemic and we are sharing these important narratives with decision makers.
We launched our Communities of Practice to foster learning, sharing, dialogue, and leadership development in the CACFP community - starting with our peer-to-peer learning group on Remote Visits - and many more to come in 2021.
We hosted the first-time-ever-virtual Annual CACFP Conference, with inspiring and eye-opening presentations, like Apply a Racial Equity Lens to Your Nutrition Programming with Reynaldo Green, and many more (P.S. Members: we've uploaded many of the presentations to our website for your continued viewing!).
We started a partnership with the CA Department of Social Services that creates an opportunity for California CACFP to have a voice in the forthcoming transition.
And we ended this year articulating hope for a brighter future, communicating positive changes we'd all like to see in CACFP, including the breaking news that our advocacy to provide financial relief for CACFP was finally successful!
We hope you will take a few moments to honor all that you've accomplished this year too - and maybe even share it with us.
Happy Holidays, from the entire Board and staff at the CCFP Roundtable.
5-4-3-2-1
This is not the countdown to the end of 2020, although it's almost here! This is a calming technique we learned about at our mental health and wellness plenary. It's been an overwhelming year at many points - we wanted to share this clip with you for when you need a calming moment as we say goodbye to this 2020.