Support Byrds Filling Station - zero waste grocery shopping

Byrd's Filling Station is a zero waste grocery store fighting the global scourge of single use plastics. Single use plastics in grocery shopping contribute to 360 million tons of plastics every year - devastating ecosystems and driving global warming. With Byrd's, you can move to a zero plastics model for ALL your grocery and household needs - you can be the hero that saves our planet. Byrd's has eliminated well over 125k single-use plastics in San Mateo over the years, with your help.

Byrd's founder Laura Porter is a visionary, a relentless woman and the best human. She started Byrd's in 2019 in a farmers market, expanded in 2020 to online, and in 2022 to a physical store in San Mateo, CA. Byrd's quickly won the hearts of consumers and the 2024 San Mateo Sustainability Awards.

However, life events and the pace of behavioral change have brought this iteration of Laura's vision to an end. Laura has had to deal with the personal struggles of a divorce this last year and a half. She's had to take on a full time job in addition to running the store to sustain herself and her two children. So she's had to make the gut-wrenching decision to close the store to focus on her kids.

The outpouring of love and grief from the community has been overwhelming. And now we need your action. Byrd's still has leases, bills and employee salaries to pay. Laura backed her lease which has 8 months of payments left with a personal guarantee. Unlike giant corporations, Laura cannot and will not hide behind a bankruptcy filing. Byrd's represents the backbone of America - a small business run by a fearless entrepreneur whose handshake is her integrity.

So as a community, we are rallying around Laura and Byrd's. Words are nice, action is helpful. We aim to raise at least $75,000 so Byrds can close with honor, let Laura rejuvenate and hopefully come back strong. If we can't rally behind Laura Porter and Byrd's, who are we?

NOTE: This fundraiser is organized by Kumar Ramachandran on behalf of all socially conscious Californians. Kumar's LinkedIn Profile