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Catskill Mutual Aid Fund

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THE GROUP

We’re Catskill Mutual Aid, a group of neighbors who started organizing a few weeks into the shutdown. We’ve been coming together and working on both immediate response to need (e.g. for protective masks and sanitizer), and longer-term initiatives geared toward greater food security in Catskill. These projects are timely, and happening today, but also seek to lay the foundations of more localized and equitable systems surrounding health, nutrition, and equality. All of these efforts are central to Catskill and affiliated with mutual aid throughout the region.

BUDGET

Our goal is to raise $10,000 to distribute to the following :

• 30% ($3,000) to Masks4People  , who have supplied over 4,000 masks to healthcare professionals and other frontline workers, as well as 250+ residents in Hop-o-Nose and 100+ congregants of Somos Hijos de un rey, largely on their own dime.  (Materials)


• 30% ($3,000) to Stone Soup , Michelle Williams’ initiative that cooks and delivers meals free-of-charge to any and all who need it, three days per week. All extra funds go directly to the Catskill Community Center. (With roughly every $3,000 given, Michelle is able to cover food costs for an entire month.)


• 20% ($2,000) to kickstart and subsidize various small-scale mutual aid projects already underway, including:

- St. Patricks Parish has generously donated their empty lot, and we'll soon be transforming it into a fully producing, community-run microfarm. With a volunteer crew 30+ and growing,  we'll be planting crops to nourish our neighbors in need. All food grown will be donated directly to our local pantries, churches, and charities. Our aim is to provide fresh and free food, as far as the harvest will stretch. 
- free mask/sanitizer spray distribution. (We need to cover costs of materials)
 

• 20% ($2,000) to immigrant relief (via the Columbia County Sanctuary Movement’s Mano y Mano fund ) to ensure that many of the essential workers who grow, sort, pack and deliver our food and other resources receive the front-line assistance they need. Even though it is estimated that undocumented immigrants pay $11.6 billion in state and local taxes and contribute approximately $16 billion to social security and medicare annually, undocumented families are continuously denied access to healthcare, social services, and paid sick leave during a global pandemic.

WHY WE’RE DOING THIS

We know this is a big ask, but the need is urgent. Federal and state government stimulus packages are failing to meet the massive economic and social risks posed to underserved individuals (many of whom are immigrants and people of color) and small businesses, while local nonprofits and other informal aid are operating at maximum capacity. We ask that those who qualify for a $1,200 stimulus check yet have not lost work, take it upon themselves as citizens and Catskill residents to consider redistributing some or all of that stimulus to aid those whom our institutions can’t, or simply aren’t. For those of us who don’t fit this mold, any amount is appreciated.

In the spirit of mutual aid, which is built with informal and spontaneous neighborhood action, we have collectively decided on the breakdown of funds. Contributions are not tax-deductible, but we have the means to redistribute the funds to a diverse range of organizations and efforts, and in an expedited fashion.

All redistributions of the fund will be listed on a spreadsheet and publicly shared with all those who give. Examples of mutual aid funds include Kingston’s Community Fund  and Seattle’s wildly successful COVID Survival Fund for the People , just to name a few.

Donations 

  • Marian Morgan
    • $108 
    • 4 yrs
  • Rebecca Iasillo
    • $20 
    • 4 yrs
  • Ksenia Pachikov
    • $200 
    • 4 yrs
  • Anonymous
    • $20 
    • 4 yrs
  • Sam Margolius
    • $50 
    • 4 yrs

Fundraising team: Catskill Mutual Aid (4)

AH Pearl
Organizer
Catskill, NY
Mabel Bermejo
Team member
Melanie Flannery
Team member
Neva Wartell
Team member

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