Food Sovereignty and Library Support
Donation protected
I recently applied for a grant through the City of Grand Rapids' Neighborhood Match Fund to host community food sovereignty, health empowerment and personal nutrition classes for the MLK Park neighborhood. The classes will be available to all of our brothers and sisters in the community that feel they could benefit from camaraderie and support around resiliency and are interested in learning how to eat to fuel the resistance. The grant requires that the amount I'm requesting from the city be matched by donations. Some of the classes will include topics like:
-Ancestral Nutrition
- Utilizing Waste
- Bulk Purchasing
- Forming Food Boundaries
Additionally, I've started a sharing table where the community can share resources and it doubles as a safe space to share your dreams and strategize how to realize them. I've received some beautiful donations but am falling short on supplies like woke children's books and quality spices.
UPDATE: Thank you for all of your generosity. The sharing table has expired and moved to a new phase. Similar to the little free libraries you see, I will be turning my sun room into a small library for woke literature, Ms. Alita's Library. The room is adjacent to my front door (no one needs to go through the house) and is full of screened windows to increase air circulation and safety. My mom is having children's masks made to share with our visitors but we can definitely use more disposable masks to have around. Kiddos can come in and pick up books and are encouraged to return them when they are finished but there will be no enforcement of this. The hope is this will turn into a fun place that children can visit to stimulate their imaginations and read stories that have black, brown and female leaders/main characters to be inspired by.
If you have books or masks to donate please reach out to me or please consider a monetary donation. The primary method of purchasing books will be from We Are Lit!, a pop-up bookstore ran by Kendra McNeil. McNeil is a beautiful black woman operating the store in Grand Rapids and has done a phenomenal job of curating books for the narrative shift we seek to empower.
All of these activities will be well documented so please donate and watch your donation grow into something beautiful.
-Ancestral Nutrition
- Utilizing Waste
- Bulk Purchasing
- Forming Food Boundaries
Additionally, I've started a sharing table where the community can share resources and it doubles as a safe space to share your dreams and strategize how to realize them. I've received some beautiful donations but am falling short on supplies like woke children's books and quality spices.
UPDATE: Thank you for all of your generosity. The sharing table has expired and moved to a new phase. Similar to the little free libraries you see, I will be turning my sun room into a small library for woke literature, Ms. Alita's Library. The room is adjacent to my front door (no one needs to go through the house) and is full of screened windows to increase air circulation and safety. My mom is having children's masks made to share with our visitors but we can definitely use more disposable masks to have around. Kiddos can come in and pick up books and are encouraged to return them when they are finished but there will be no enforcement of this. The hope is this will turn into a fun place that children can visit to stimulate their imaginations and read stories that have black, brown and female leaders/main characters to be inspired by.
If you have books or masks to donate please reach out to me or please consider a monetary donation. The primary method of purchasing books will be from We Are Lit!, a pop-up bookstore ran by Kendra McNeil. McNeil is a beautiful black woman operating the store in Grand Rapids and has done a phenomenal job of curating books for the narrative shift we seek to empower.
All of these activities will be well documented so please donate and watch your donation grow into something beautiful.
Organizer
Alita Kelly
Organizer
Grand Rapids, MI
