The Big Fridge Is Running!
This week, we did something we have been waiting to do for 5 years, 11 months, and 9 days (since our first week of deliveries as the Topeka Growers Group): We picked up veggies from the farmers and wheeled them directly into our walk-in cooler!
No juggling things around to fit the boxes into every available space of every available fridge. No waiting until the last minute to pack delivery orders because we now have plenty of room to store the packed bags. The difference this cooler will make for our operations is incredible.
Getting to this point has taken a lot of work and a lot of patience. We applied for the grant that funded it nearly 2 years ago (and had been trying to get it funded for at least a year before that). We waited as the federal government froze, then unfroze the funding. We filled out pages of paperwork. We unloaded it from the delivery truck on one of the coldest, snowiest days of the winter. We set it up ourselves, shaving off pieces of foam until every piece fit perfectly and it all locked together. And Robert worked closely with the electrician to get it wired this week, both of them putting in long days/late nights to get it finished in time for veggie pickups on Wednesday.
All that work and patience...none of it is anything special. It's the story of every small business and nonprofit working to make something out of nothing. Working to make their community better and their vision come to life. But it's still a moment of great celebration for us—an opportunity to reflect on how far we've come and how much further this equipment will help us go.
-Justine
-Justine
