Foss: Emergency coalition ramps up relief effort | The Daily Gazette SECTIONS Shares0 Last March a coalition of local non-profits came together with the goal of bringing food and other essentials to Schenectady County residents in need. The effort was a response to COVID-19 and the unprecedented stay-at-home orders, business shutdowns and quarantine and isolation requirements that came with it. Over a 14-week period, the coalition made 16,500 deliveries and distributed over 800,000 pounds of food. It was a massive, all-consuming undertaking, and when the pandemic subsided, the coalition disbanded, officially ceasing operations at the end of June. “If we ever have to do this again, we could be up and running very quickly,” Robert Carreau, executive director of The Schenectady Foundation, the charitable trust that spearheaded the coalition, told me during the summer.