Amidst increased demand for food and steadily diminishing funds over the past several years, food security nonprofit Lift-Up has had to reduce some its programming in order to cut back costs and redirect resources to where they matter most — providing reliable, nutritious food to residents of the Roaring Fork and Colorado River valleys.
Following difficult decisions to reduce staff, cut some of its services and shutter its thrift stores in Rifle and Parachute, Lift-Up remains cautiously optimistic that it will be able to meet 2026 with new services to accomplish its mission. In order for that to happen, they will rely on more community support than ever.
In 2023, Lift-Up purchased its current headquarters and main warehouse in Glenwood Springs which, while providing the organization with a central hub for food distribution, left it $1.5 million in the red. At the end of 2024, Lift-Up experienced a major shake-up when three members of its directorial staff stepped down for reasons unrelated to the organization’s financial strains. Combined with a tripled number of individuals seeking services since 2022 and a 27% reduction in philanthropic donations each year, 2025 has been more than challenging.
At the start of 2025, Lift-Up’s remaining directors hired contractors to temporarily plug gaps left by changes in leadership, including former Basalt Town Council member Elyse Hottel who presently serves as Lift-Up’s interim executive director. The new team took a hard look at existing programming, and in February of this year announced an adjustment to services in order to remain within budget.
One of the major changes was the discontinuation of drive-thru food distribution. Launched during COVID in order to maintain social distancing, the new team found that the program’s prepackaged food parcels led to food waste, as recipients wouldn’t always receive what they could use.
For efficiency, Lift-Up’s staff was reduced from 15 employees in 2024 to nine. The team also internally promoted Samantha Heald, who started out as a warehouse associate, to director of programmatic operations, helping stabilize the full-time staff. While that staff remains “lean and mean,” in Hottel’s words, Lift-Up still relies on the greater flexibility of contractors for services like grant applications.
Other cost-saving measures included the shuttering of Lift-Up’s Glenwood, Parachute and Rifle thrift stores. While the Glenwood thrift store operated on rented property, Lift-Up owned its buildings in Parachute and Rifle and made the difficult decision in August to sell both properties. Until sales are finalized, Lift-Up continues to operate the food pantries in both Rifle and Parachute while on the lookout for new premises for those pantries within their local communities.
A press release stressed that food security is Lift-Up’s top priority. “Feeding people seeking support is our mission,” Hottel is quoted saying. “It’s what we do really well, and we need to double down on it because the rising cost of living in our region, coupled with federal funding cuts, is only going to increase the need.”
The need for increased efficiency also led Lift-Up to adopt a new internal program to track food distribution across its pantries and collect data on where and when demand is highest in order to better direct resources.
Lift-Up then purchased a trailer for a mobile food market in order to fight hunger in new regions. However, until the team secures a truck capable of towing a fully-stocked trailer up the Roaring Fork Valley, the mobile food market will remain in Silt.
Fortunately, over 200 volunteers help prop up the organization’s services. “It is phenomenally consistent,” said Hottel in reference to volunteer turnout. “Our volunteers are so dedicated. It’s amazing.”
Lift-Up continues seeking support in three ways — funds, food and friends (volunteers). Hottel highlighted the need for on-call volunteers when some of its regular teams need to tap out at the last minute, as well as additional hands for administrative work in the Glenwood warehouse.
Even spreading awareness of food insecurity supports Lift-Up’s mission. “I think that folks are not necessarily savvy to the fact that there are people in our valley who are facing food insecurity,” Hottel said. Lift-Up plans to host a ticketed educational event on Oct. 29 in cooperation with Dion’s Chicago Dream, a Chicago-based nonprofit, with details forthcoming.
Food drop-off bins, business partnerships and active food drives remain essential for offsetting rising costs and fighting hunger in our community with increasing need. Instructions for how to lend a hand can be found at www.liftup.org