Sunday, January 29, 2023
  • Login
198 Crowd Funding News
No Result
View All Result
  • HOME
  • VIDEO
  • CROWD SUPPORT
  • ARTICLES
  • NEWS
  • BLOG
  • ADS
  • CROWDFUNDING SOURCES
  • BOOKS
  • SPONSORSHIPS
  • CONTACT
  • HOME
  • VIDEO
  • CROWD SUPPORT
  • ARTICLES
  • NEWS
  • BLOG
  • ADS
  • CROWDFUNDING SOURCES
  • BOOKS
  • SPONSORSHIPS
  • CONTACT
No Result
View All Result
198 Crowd Funding News
No Result
View All Result
Home Blog

Awesome Project: Service Workers’ Coalition: Grocery Stipends

January 14, 2021
in Blog
0
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on Email

[ad_1]

From serving up hot meals to writing cookbooks and everything in between, Brooklyn resident AD knows the ins and outs of their local restaurant community. As a former barista, bartender, and server, and a current activist and hospitality consultant, their roots run deep in the industry. “I’m pretty entrenched in the restaurant community here in Brooklyn,” they say. 

In early March 2020, AD could see the writing on the wall that COVID-19 would likely wreak havoc in their local restaurant community. They knew just how devastating it would be for the food service industry if the city went into lockdown.  So AD and their friends Kelly Sulllivan and Seamus Branch, started a conversation about how to help their colleagues throughout the city. 

“I was very concerned about what was going to happen to my community of service workers,” AD says. “Seamus asked me and Kelly to get together to talk about what to do. And we just were going to come together to raise some cash for people…so that we would have some money to help support them when they couldn’t work.” It was three days before New York City effectively shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the Service Workers Coalition was born.

AD (left) and their team launched the Service Workers Coalition in 2020 in response to COVID-19.

They envisioned the project as a mutual aid fund to meet the needs of the workers in multiple scenarios. “If [the workers] had to call out if they got sick, if they were exposed to COVID, if they needed some money to fill in the gaps–then we would have that.” AD says. They knew that people quarantining at home meant that restaurant workers’ tip money would be disappearing. “So we started to kind of structure it as this idea that like, if you get to go home and work, then will you donate what you would spend just in tips at a restaurant during the week?”

They landed on a $50-a-week grocery stipend, dispensed to workers in the form of direct cash assistance, as the focus of their initiative. If a worker was unable to leave their home to go to the grocery store, they decided, they would set up a system so that a volunteer would go shopping for them. In that way, they were able to move money directly into the hands of folks who needed it most. “That, I think, really made sense to people,” AD says. “I don’t think [people feel] good about leaving others out in the cold.” 

They started spreading the word about their project through social media and word-of-mouth, and it really resonated with people. “One of the things that’s been really moving about it,” AD says, “is that we raised somewhere around $150,000 in the first four months or so. And most of those donations were between $5, $20, and $50 interval increments. So it’s not like we got like a big donor.”

In fact, one of the most heartening things about the fund is that donations often come from other restaurant industry workers who are looking out for their neighbors. “A lot of those people were people who worked in restaurants either had some savings or got another gig or just sent part of their unemployment back into the system because they knew that their counterparts in the back of the house were quite possibly not getting any assistance from anyone. And many people will eventually return the stipend and put it back into the pool,” says AD.

In order to make sure the project is sustainable, they’ve worked to secure multiple sources of funding. In addition to receiving grants, they turned to ioby to run a crowdfunding campaign. “ioby offering us the community match fund was huge,” AD says. They used it to set up a photo raffle to generate donations. Several photographers contributed prints, and people donated money for chances to win them. “It was pretty great because [with the match, the funds we raised] were doubled. And we met the goal that we wanted to meet–and then raised a little bit more. Anything you can do to tell a story and get people involved in that story is redeeming and seems to be successful. ioby has a great platform for that.”

And even though they’ve raised a lot of money, AD acknowledges that there’s still work to be done. Over time, as the circumstances in their community have changed, they’ve adjusted their operations to be able to meet the needs of their neighbors. Whether that means modifying the amount of the stipend for undocumented workers or those who are working part-time, “we’re always trying to figure it out,” they say.

SWC tapped into their network of food and restaurant industries to get donations.

In reflecting on their experience lending a hand to their neighbors this year, AD has some advice to offer their fellow changemakers: give yourself some grace. The thing is, they say, “people always think they’re not doing enough. Part of the reason it’s possible for me to continue to do this and not get totally depressed is that there is no ‘meeting the need.’ This is just the thing that I do, because I can and because it engages me with people that I love and the community that’s suffering–and I’m one of them. Just the practice of doing it keeps us tethered to each other in a certain way.” 

That simple act of staying connected, AD says, has helped keep Service Workers Coalition alive. “The thing that makes us sustainable is that we are connected to each other. I don’t know how so many people have sent us donations, but what I do know is that somebody told them something about it and that somebody told somebody. And so the only way I think these things are sustainable is if you allow and foster connection with other people, even if that’s really difficult right now.”

And that’s what makes the group’s work so powerful. Taken at face value, Service Workers Coalition is responding to an immediate need. Dig a little deeper underneath the surface, and it’s clear that SWC is also building a safety net for their community–and that means they’re creating a better future for everyone. “We are building, now, a future which acknowledges that we can not go it alone. We need the groceries and food, and we need to feel both supported and helpful. Raising funds with our community to feed our community empowers and enriches us all.”



[ad_2]

Source link

Tags: AwesomeCoalitionGroceryProjectServiceStipendsWorkers
ShareTweetSend

Related Posts

Blog

Ayudemos a los jubilados de la ULA Mérida, Venezuela.

June 4, 2022
Blog

Honest feedback on my pitch, please?

June 3, 2022
Blog

Love Potion, enchant those around you.

June 3, 2022
Blog

Support Black Creators | Murenga, Hawi #1-3, Black Boy’s Blues & More

June 3, 2022
Blog

I created an accessible art community and platform in Manchester UK, and it’s about time we found a permanent home! We currently operate on a pop up basis, but now we need to progress to the next step. Any tips?

June 3, 2022
Blog

Building the most creative and fashionable football club in the UK! : Crowdfunding

June 3, 2022
Load More
Next Post

Awesome Project: Easy Activism, Fundraising for Black Mental Health

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

LATEST STORIES

Between Music – Crowdfunding video

June 5, 2022

Attacking A Market Failure With Candice Matthews Brackeen

June 5, 2022

Crowdfunding video – Kabeção 1st solo Album – Touching Souls

June 5, 2022

The Gecko – Failure is not an option

June 5, 2022

Roller Kingdom Crowdfunding Video

June 4, 2022

Introduction – Art of Failure with Eli Zelkha

June 4, 2022

Radbahn Crowdfunding Video + Fast Forward Science 2017 Film

June 4, 2022

Jorge Newbery at Failure Lab

June 4, 2022

Outland Denim Equity Crowdfunding Video

June 4, 2022

What I learned about Failure, Loneliness, and Red Lizard at the Spark Fest Cebu

June 4, 2022
Load More
198 Crowd Funding News

Own and operated by The Ike Lemuwa Group, LLC a Commonwealth of Virginia Limited Liability Company, USA.
Info@nigeriasmartnews.com / info@ikelemuwagroup.com
Toll-Free: 1 888 642 8433
3821 Dominion Drive Dumfries, Virginia, 22026. USA

Categories

  • Home
  • Crowdfunding News
  • Blog
  • Articles
  • Sponsorship
  • Crowd Support
  • Crowdfunding Sources
  • Partner with 198TILG Mastermind Platinum Group
  • Video

Recent News

  • Between Music – Crowdfunding video
  • Attacking A Market Failure With Candice Matthews Brackeen
  • Crowdfunding video – Kabeção 1st solo Album – Touching Souls
  • The Gecko – Failure is not an option
  • Roller Kingdom Crowdfunding Video
  • Home
  • Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy
  • DMCA
  • Cookie Privacy Policy
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Contact

Copyright © 2021 198 Crowdfunding News.

No Result
View All Result
  • HOME
  • VIDEO
  • CROWD SUPPORT
  • ARTICLES
  • NEWS
  • BLOG
  • ADS
  • CROWDFUNDING SOURCES
  • BOOKS
  • SPONSORSHIPS
  • CONTACT

Copyright © 2021 198 Crowdfunding News.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In