Berkeley Mutual Aid Neighbor Fund
Donation protected
We are a volunteer organization that is building solidarity in the East Bay and aiming to flatten the growth curve of COVID-19 by deploying our resources against the most pressing needs in the community.
COVID-19 is creating heightened needs across Berkeley, as well as a groundswell of neighbors who want to help. Berkeley Mutual Aid matches lower-risk volunteers with the most urgent needs. This includes pairing lower-risk neighbors with higher-risk neighbors who need essential supplies (e.g., food, toiletries, and prescriptions), help navigating social services, or want to connect to overcome social isolation.
Berkeley Mutual Aid is an evolving effort developed by volunteers in the community to get neighborly support to where it is needed most. As this crisis evolves, our project will continue to respond and shift priorities as needed. Right now, we are focusing on helping people at higher risk from COVID-19, and helping people who are being especially heavily impacted by COVID-19. Berkeley Mutual Aid is part of BDPNN, the Berkeley Disaster Prep Neighborhood Network, which is a 501(c)3 all-volunteer nonprofit.
We are members of the steering committee of Berkeley Mutual Aid, and are raising funds to distribute to the most pressing needs we are seeing in the community. This requires some discretion, but we are prioritizing people who need help paying for groceries. The funds are sent to a volunteer, who provides receipts for the groceries purchased.
In distributing these funds, we have to maintain an absolute minimum of physical contact. Thus, we are withdrawing the funds directly to a bank account and then distributing them using Venmo, PayPal, and other e-payment platforms.
Again this is to minimize physical contact. We wish to be totally transparent, and are willing to share the details of how much was spent and in what way, though naturally we cannot and will not disclose personal details about the recipients of funds, as this would violate people's privacy, which we make every effort to protect.
COVID-19 is creating heightened needs across Berkeley, as well as a groundswell of neighbors who want to help. Berkeley Mutual Aid matches lower-risk volunteers with the most urgent needs. This includes pairing lower-risk neighbors with higher-risk neighbors who need essential supplies (e.g., food, toiletries, and prescriptions), help navigating social services, or want to connect to overcome social isolation.
Berkeley Mutual Aid is an evolving effort developed by volunteers in the community to get neighborly support to where it is needed most. As this crisis evolves, our project will continue to respond and shift priorities as needed. Right now, we are focusing on helping people at higher risk from COVID-19, and helping people who are being especially heavily impacted by COVID-19. Berkeley Mutual Aid is part of BDPNN, the Berkeley Disaster Prep Neighborhood Network, which is a 501(c)3 all-volunteer nonprofit.
We are members of the steering committee of Berkeley Mutual Aid, and are raising funds to distribute to the most pressing needs we are seeing in the community. This requires some discretion, but we are prioritizing people who need help paying for groceries. The funds are sent to a volunteer, who provides receipts for the groceries purchased.
In distributing these funds, we have to maintain an absolute minimum of physical contact. Thus, we are withdrawing the funds directly to a bank account and then distributing them using Venmo, PayPal, and other e-payment platforms.
Again this is to minimize physical contact. We wish to be totally transparent, and are willing to share the details of how much was spent and in what way, though naturally we cannot and will not disclose personal details about the recipients of funds, as this would violate people's privacy, which we make every effort to protect.
Organizer
Berkeley Mutual Aid
Organizer
Berkeley, CA
