Birthday Gift: Urgent Meals for the Hungry
Donation protected
March 31st is my birthday!!! In lieu of drinks, dinner, dancing, karaoke, concerts, camping, cake, poker and all the fun things that are clearly out of the celebratory question to ring in my 35th year-will you help me raise enough money to make and deliver 200 hot meals to the highest risk, highest need groups in Seattle?
For years I’ve been making and delivering homemade food for people who are hungry. I love the process of creating delicious, beautiful dishes for people who don’t have much to eat, and more importantly, it’s become a way for me to build treasured relationships. For the last 2 weeks I’ve been getting calls, texts, emails and Facebook messages with cries for urgent help: Our neighbors are hungry, and they have nowhere to turn.
The coronavirus has completely devastated hot meal programs and soup kitchens, who’ve had to close or decrease capacity due to necessary concerns about health and safety. Dumpsters that used to be available for food scavenging are empty-the restaurant industry shuttered overnight. Volunteers who used to distribute food are sheltering in place. Food banks often require a proof of address that many cannot provide since they live outside.
While there are some incredible organizations stepping up, they can’t meet the demand. And many of the people who need the most services are the hardest to find, because they don’t live in shelters or sanctioned encampments. Through relationships, we’re finding ways to safely get meals to them while maintaining social distancing. Hunger is painful, being forgotten is even worse.
I’m asking for your help to immediately launch a completely grassroots effort to employ restaurant workers and ride-share drivers to get delicious hot food to those who need it. The service economy is at an all-time low, and to prevent *more* people from becoming hungry and unsheltered, we gotta give folks safe, reliable sources of income. I have some foundations and investors who are totally down to roll this out on a larger scale, but while we’re waiting for those (hopefully big!) checks to clear, people need food now.
Your contribution will mean:
40 meals to seniors in affordable housing
40 meals to immigrant families with English as a second language
40 meals to a low-barrier sanctioned encampment
40 meals to unsheltered, unsanctioned neighbors in North Seattle
40 meals to unsheltered, unsanctioned neighbors in South Seattle
20 additional free meals for kitchen staff and delivery drivers
$80 in wages for each of 5 kitchen staff ($16/hour)
$60 for each delivery driver (way above what most delivery services pay)
A donation as small as $3.50 covers the food cost of one meal. I know this is a financially difficult time, and perhaps you are struggling to feed your own family. Would you consider sharing this with your friends and family via social media, text or email to extend our reach?
Thanks for digitally helping me blow out my birthday candles! Stay well my lovelies <3 Serina
(check out my interview about the PopUp Kitchen in the Atlantic!)
For years I’ve been making and delivering homemade food for people who are hungry. I love the process of creating delicious, beautiful dishes for people who don’t have much to eat, and more importantly, it’s become a way for me to build treasured relationships. For the last 2 weeks I’ve been getting calls, texts, emails and Facebook messages with cries for urgent help: Our neighbors are hungry, and they have nowhere to turn.
The coronavirus has completely devastated hot meal programs and soup kitchens, who’ve had to close or decrease capacity due to necessary concerns about health and safety. Dumpsters that used to be available for food scavenging are empty-the restaurant industry shuttered overnight. Volunteers who used to distribute food are sheltering in place. Food banks often require a proof of address that many cannot provide since they live outside.
While there are some incredible organizations stepping up, they can’t meet the demand. And many of the people who need the most services are the hardest to find, because they don’t live in shelters or sanctioned encampments. Through relationships, we’re finding ways to safely get meals to them while maintaining social distancing. Hunger is painful, being forgotten is even worse.
I’m asking for your help to immediately launch a completely grassroots effort to employ restaurant workers and ride-share drivers to get delicious hot food to those who need it. The service economy is at an all-time low, and to prevent *more* people from becoming hungry and unsheltered, we gotta give folks safe, reliable sources of income. I have some foundations and investors who are totally down to roll this out on a larger scale, but while we’re waiting for those (hopefully big!) checks to clear, people need food now.
Your contribution will mean:
40 meals to seniors in affordable housing
40 meals to immigrant families with English as a second language
40 meals to a low-barrier sanctioned encampment
40 meals to unsheltered, unsanctioned neighbors in North Seattle
40 meals to unsheltered, unsanctioned neighbors in South Seattle
20 additional free meals for kitchen staff and delivery drivers
$80 in wages for each of 5 kitchen staff ($16/hour)
$60 for each delivery driver (way above what most delivery services pay)
A donation as small as $3.50 covers the food cost of one meal. I know this is a financially difficult time, and perhaps you are struggling to feed your own family. Would you consider sharing this with your friends and family via social media, text or email to extend our reach?
Thanks for digitally helping me blow out my birthday candles! Stay well my lovelies <3 Serina
(check out my interview about the PopUp Kitchen in the Atlantic!)
Organiser
Serina Holmstrom
Organiser
Seattle, WA