Pictured above: An ACC St. Michael staff member checks the food boxes at one of the stops along the journey to Stebbins, AK.

When a road closure threatened to delay delivery of much-needed fresh food to the community of Stebbins, AK, Alaska Commercial Company (ACC) staff came up with a unique way to make sure it got there.

Since February 1, Alaska Commercial Company has been sourcing, packing and delivering fresh and nutritious food boxes to 116 communities across Alaska, ensuring that families in need have access to healthy food at no cost during the pandemic – all part of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farmers to Families Food Box Program.

ACC St. Michael store manager Dave Harvey and his team recently delivered 1,500 pounds of food to Stebbins, AK – but it almost did not get there. A road closure to the village presented a challenge, but Harvey and his team were not willing to let so much food go to waste and were determined to make the delivery no matter what.

The adventure began when the ACC St. Michael team decided to use two snowmobiles to transport the food across St. Michel Bay, something they had never done before. They loaded 750 lbs. of food and strapped it to each snowmobile, stopping to check and adjust their load along the journey.

Stebbins residents were delighted to see the two snowmobiles arrive with food for the members of the village.

“We needed to get the community of Stebbins their fresh food; there was never any question that we would use any resource available. We got the food boxes to them by snow machine and would do it again in a heartbeat,” said Harvey.