April 12, 2022 Clay County Innovator Receives Excellence in Volunteerism Award
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GREEN COVE SPRINGS, Fla – on March 31, 2022, Clay County community partner Brian Knight, the Founder of Pragmatic Works, joined Clay County Emergency Management and the Community and Social Services Department to receive Volunteer Florida’s Excellence in Volunteerism Award at the 2022 Emergency Management Convening in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. This award is given to individuals or groups who demonstrate outstanding volunteerism in service to Florida’s communities.
During the early stages of the COVID-19 Pandemic, Clay County Emergency Managers were seeking ways to assist local food pantries working to provide much needed food supplies to residents negatively impacted by the pandemic. The demand for food had increased drastically in the community and local volunteers were stretched to the limit.
Clay County Emergency Management, Community Services Department, and local food pantries came together to look for a solution to address the increase in food insecurity. County officials reached out to a local software developer to assist with creating an online registration system to help track data and manage family visits to ensure supplies were available and distributed to as many individuals as possible. Brian Knight, owner of Pragmatic Works, received and analyzed input from Clay County staff and local food pantries to create the foundation of Project Pantry.
With this software, managers were able to track how many individuals were assisted, as well as use data to make important logistical decisions based on location of food distributions and the supplies required to meet the need. The Project Pantry software enabled local food pantries to tackle the 400% increase in demand for food in Clay County.
This government/private partnership was the basis for the overwhelming success of the Project Pantry software, which has now been modeled in other communities across Florida.
Chairman of the Clay County Board of County Commissioners Wayne Bolla said, “Commissioners appreciate the innovative approach of Pragmatic Works to analyze the issue of food insecurity and develop a program that made very best use of funding and supplies.” Bolla added, “This collaboration between the county and community partners was essential in meeting the needs of the community during a very uncertain time for many residents who were struggling to feed their families.”