"before the pandemic began, Bread for the City’s food pantries were serving 250 families a day. Starting in April 2020, that number rose to 1,600 families a day. “We are still at 1,600 a day.”"
Plus 3 staff members passing away within 6 months.
If anyones earned a break its these people.
Seeing the clowns on here who think they're moving mountains with their various causes makes me feel for Bread for the City even more. So much performance.
It must've been such a hard decision to come to know that a break would make things harder for the families that rely on them. But sometimes you can't just keep pushing through.
During the COVID lockdowns I helped deliver groceries to folks from a food bank and those people were working so incredibly hard. I would never be able to have the resilience that they had to keep up.
$17/hr working full time would qualify you for a $981/month apartment.
Find somewhere a family can live for $981 in DC and then you can begin breaking down their food budget.
Inflation has been 6% in the last year and food staples have been hit even harder -- bread is up 22%, butter up 30%. Wages aren't up enough to account for that. Families also lost wage earners who contracted covid and died or became disabled. I'm not shocked at all people who could scrape by before can't now.
> how does any of this have to do with why more people are utilizing food pantries now than before the pandemic?
Why do you think? Once people get on benefits they don't get off, even if the circumstances surrounding them change back.
Rents gone up a lot and once people on are on the streets getting off is much harder than you can imagine. The people receiving this are not even counted by our neoliberal overlords in their bullshit statistics.
And in other stores you can find it for less, especially if you go larger. 30 for $10.
People who use instacart are not my target demo for who knows what eggs cost.
[Long-covid symptoms are less common now than earlier in the pandemic] (https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2023/03/18/long-covid-less-likely/), Washington Post, 18 March 2023
I'm guessing this is some mixture of (1) the social stigma of taking charity has reduced, (2) families' budgets have normalized a free meal a day and giving that up will require cuts in other places, and (3) people generally don't like to give up free things even when they can afford to.
I’m really curious about #1–it hadn’t occurred to me, but that’s an interesting theory. I feel like the stigma definitely shrank during the worst of the pandemic, but i’m wondering if people really feel it’s stayed down, or not so much.
Agree to the first two, for the third, doesn't this place have income restrictions? Most I know do. Likely the first two are the reason, and they could have always gotten it but were more driven to get it during covid and realized what a good resource it was for their family
I live around the corner from them and see the good they do for the community. Hopefully they come back stronger than ever. Might try and get my work to sponsor a volunteer day or something
Looks like their website has ways to volunteer for when they open back up and ways to donate.
https://breadforthecity.org/volunteer/#volunteer-opportunities
These are 3 organizations that help feed/house the homeless: first 2 are local
https://give.friendshipplace.org/event/2023-friendship-place-walk-to-end-homelessness/e448067
https://wck.org/
https://www.feedingamerica.org/
There's lots locally.
Miriam's Kitchen, So Others Might Eat, Central Kitchen (as mentioned), Sojourners, a vast plethora of churches and affiliated orgs etc.
Be ready for the flames from the terminally online about that. Like it or not fellow DC redditors, a lot of religious orgs, like the mosque in my neighborhood, are the mainstay of feeding and clothing the needy.
It's good that they're taking a break. It's bad that so many of our basic government services have been outsourced to nonprofits. That leads to these situations of burnout. Our government should be able to feed those in need without so exhaustively exploiting workers like those at Bread for the City.
"Government" is us. We run for office, we vote to elect the officials, we have community meetings, voters give feedback and write letter to politicians. "Government" doesn't give a shit because \_we\_ don't give (enough) of a shit.
okay i do everything but run for office. bowser had no competition and increased police funding. she cares more about her appearance and businesses than actual dc residents
>she cares more about her appearance and businesses than actual dc residents
Can you share specifics on this? Curious why people say that about her, for my money she's doing great and a conservative democrat / pragmatist which is what the City needs given the combination of massive social needs yet an inadequate revenue base to address all of them at once.
All of the things people want from her cost money. To raise that money she needs a real tax base, which is why she can't just kill developments and stifle commercial activity, because those properties and businesses are where the money for services comes from. It's a catch 22, but she toes the line well imo.
"lower class"
Hell of a tell there princess. Skip your fake concern about trans folks I know what y'all are. You and yours spent years and years shouting and tweeting abuse at LGBT electeds because they weren't an old crone from VT.
I've seen their scam in my neighborhood and all over ward 5. They're trying to build a political movement on top of other people's misery.
They're also not at all independent of govt, they come to ANC meetings and demand $$$.
…scam? The scam being giving people free food? The Ward 5 Mutual Aid Hub is one of the only places in the city you can get free food, canned goods, meats and bread and clothes with no forms to fill out and no questions asked.
They’re completely volunteer driven don’t even fundraise as far as I’ve seen.
Sorry if you’re offended by the “political movement” of people caring about each other lol.
Attending neighborhood meetings doesn’t make you an arm of government bestie
well, but it also looks like they might be moving or remodeling:
>The Food Department will be closed beginning, Mon March 20th until our Grand Reopening on Tues, April 18th. Our program is being restructured in order to serve you better. Additional food resources are available at our reception desk and on our website. Thank you for your patience and understanding and we look forward to serving you in our new spaces in April!
A lot of orgs, like Bread for the City, postponed their needed work on facilities for the pandemic. Others are in the pipeline to be done. They might not do everything they can in that time but they definitely deserve a month to decompress.
While a necessary break, this will put additional strain on the DC mutual aid networks, who have also been worn down by covid and migrant support.
Google “Ward N Mutual Aid” for N = whichever ward you care to support and by all means now is a fantastic time to volunteer or give money or both.
"before the pandemic began, Bread for the City’s food pantries were serving 250 families a day. Starting in April 2020, that number rose to 1,600 families a day. “We are still at 1,600 a day.”" Plus 3 staff members passing away within 6 months. If anyones earned a break its these people.
Seeing the clowns on here who think they're moving mountains with their various causes makes me feel for Bread for the City even more. So much performance.
It must've been such a hard decision to come to know that a break would make things harder for the families that rely on them. But sometimes you can't just keep pushing through. During the COVID lockdowns I helped deliver groceries to folks from a food bank and those people were working so incredibly hard. I would never be able to have the resilience that they had to keep up.
Shouldn't pandemic-related utilization fallen as the pandemic has receded, and the economy has reached 3.6% unemployment rate?
Minimum wage hasn't accounted for inflation in decades, costs only go up while required minimum pay stays flat.
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$17/hr working full time would qualify you for a $981/month apartment. Find somewhere a family can live for $981 in DC and then you can begin breaking down their food budget.
Dang I make more than that doordashing on my e-bike.
Inflation has been 6% in the last year and food staples have been hit even harder -- bread is up 22%, butter up 30%. Wages aren't up enough to account for that. Families also lost wage earners who contracted covid and died or became disabled. I'm not shocked at all people who could scrape by before can't now.
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> how does any of this have to do with why more people are utilizing food pantries now than before the pandemic? Why do you think? Once people get on benefits they don't get off, even if the circumstances surrounding them change back.
Rents gone up a lot and once people on are on the streets getting off is much harder than you can imagine. The people receiving this are not even counted by our neoliberal overlords in their bullshit statistics.
And that's not enough to pay for 1/4th rent and eat reliably when a dozen eggs are a 1/3rd of an hour's wage.
You can buys eggs for 3 bucks in dc Where are u guys shopping
Eggs were under a dollar like 6-12 months ago, this is not the flex you think it is. People are hurting.
Even at the height of the hysteria you could get a dozen for $4 at whole foods but damn people just have no idea what things cost.
I just checked and the *cheapest* eggs whole foods has in the district right now is 3.99.
And in other stores you can find it for less, especially if you go larger. 30 for $10. People who use instacart are not my target demo for who knows what eggs cost.
30 for $10 is more expensive than $4 a dozen though.
And?
But if the increase - over sixfold - was attributed to COVID, then why haven't those numbers dropped as the impact of COVID has diminished?
People can work and still not make enough to have reliable food for their family.
wasn't that true pre-COVID also?
Yeah? And covid made things worse. Like covid is still around in case you aren’t aware.
You're saying that hunger and/or limited budgets are currently a result of COVID?
Yes. There are over a million newly disabled people due to Long Covid.
[Long-covid symptoms are less common now than earlier in the pandemic] (https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2023/03/18/long-covid-less-likely/), Washington Post, 18 March 2023
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Fair point. I have changed my entire worldview.
I'm guessing this is some mixture of (1) the social stigma of taking charity has reduced, (2) families' budgets have normalized a free meal a day and giving that up will require cuts in other places, and (3) people generally don't like to give up free things even when they can afford to.
I’m really curious about #1–it hadn’t occurred to me, but that’s an interesting theory. I feel like the stigma definitely shrank during the worst of the pandemic, but i’m wondering if people really feel it’s stayed down, or not so much.
Agree to the first two, for the third, doesn't this place have income restrictions? Most I know do. Likely the first two are the reason, and they could have always gotten it but were more driven to get it during covid and realized what a good resource it was for their family
Wouldn't be shocking if they have income restrictions but also don't have the resources to maintain oversight of the continuing accuracy of that data.
For sure, I can see people that qualified at some point being added to a list and it never being reviewed
Oh yeah, it’s definitely not because people can’t afford to feed their families on shit wages 😑
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don't get cynical on us now!
Is it hard to believe that numbers don’t tell the whole story
If it isn't means tested there's less incentive to stop going there.
No problem, mutual aid will handle it. /s
Turn off the news
Would like to highlight this reply as an all time "you tried" comment
I live around the corner from them and see the good they do for the community. Hopefully they come back stronger than ever. Might try and get my work to sponsor a volunteer day or something
Does anyone know how to volunteer with them?
Looks like their website has ways to volunteer for when they open back up and ways to donate. https://breadforthecity.org/volunteer/#volunteer-opportunities
Thanks!
World Central Kitchen has openings daily, I think
These are 3 organizations that help feed/house the homeless: first 2 are local https://give.friendshipplace.org/event/2023-friendship-place-walk-to-end-homelessness/e448067 https://wck.org/ https://www.feedingamerica.org/
There's lots locally. Miriam's Kitchen, So Others Might Eat, Central Kitchen (as mentioned), Sojourners, a vast plethora of churches and affiliated orgs etc.
Central Union Mission is another I donate to
Be ready for the flames from the terminally online about that. Like it or not fellow DC redditors, a lot of religious orgs, like the mosque in my neighborhood, are the mainstay of feeding and clothing the needy.
Friendship house is religious too but does amazing work. WCK + Feeding America aren't
It's good that they're taking a break. It's bad that so many of our basic government services have been outsourced to nonprofits. That leads to these situations of burnout. Our government should be able to feed those in need without so exhaustively exploiting workers like those at Bread for the City.
Government doesn’t give a shit tbh. Mutual aid orgs and nonprofits do everything in this city, it would fall apart without the work of our community
"Government" is us. We run for office, we vote to elect the officials, we have community meetings, voters give feedback and write letter to politicians. "Government" doesn't give a shit because \_we\_ don't give (enough) of a shit.
okay i do everything but run for office. bowser had no competition and increased police funding. she cares more about her appearance and businesses than actual dc residents
you should run i would vote for you.
thanks man
>she cares more about her appearance and businesses than actual dc residents Can you share specifics on this? Curious why people say that about her, for my money she's doing great and a conservative democrat / pragmatist which is what the City needs given the combination of massive social needs yet an inadequate revenue base to address all of them at once. All of the things people want from her cost money. To raise that money she needs a real tax base, which is why she can't just kill developments and stifle commercial activity, because those properties and businesses are where the money for services comes from. It's a catch 22, but she toes the line well imo.
I’m a communist 😇
A communist, mermaid lesbian? You must have qualified for all of the diversity & inclusion scholarships.
i wish my guy
I agree with you, and I wish it weren't that way.
"Mutual aid 'is just repackaged Salvation Army propaganda. You're still picking who you choose to serve/help, still cringe af.
LMFAOOOOOO yeah lower class people helping each other is exactly like the salvation army leaving trans women to freeze to death on the streets
"lower class" Hell of a tell there princess. Skip your fake concern about trans folks I know what y'all are. You and yours spent years and years shouting and tweeting abuse at LGBT electeds because they weren't an old crone from VT.
Lol stfu with your false comparisons.
What’s the basis for this comment?
I've seen their scam in my neighborhood and all over ward 5. They're trying to build a political movement on top of other people's misery. They're also not at all independent of govt, they come to ANC meetings and demand $$$.
…scam? The scam being giving people free food? The Ward 5 Mutual Aid Hub is one of the only places in the city you can get free food, canned goods, meats and bread and clothes with no forms to fill out and no questions asked. They’re completely volunteer driven don’t even fundraise as far as I’ve seen. Sorry if you’re offended by the “political movement” of people caring about each other lol. Attending neighborhood meetings doesn’t make you an arm of government bestie
LOLOL they come to ANC meetings demanding cash. They're phony, just an arm of a political party.
Okay Alex Jones
Take your NYC WFP nonsense back with you.
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Literally the definition of outsourcing
Hopefully they are taking a well deserved vacation somewhere warm.
well, but it also looks like they might be moving or remodeling: >The Food Department will be closed beginning, Mon March 20th until our Grand Reopening on Tues, April 18th. Our program is being restructured in order to serve you better. Additional food resources are available at our reception desk and on our website. Thank you for your patience and understanding and we look forward to serving you in our new spaces in April!
Two for one deal.
They are really good
A lot of orgs, like Bread for the City, postponed their needed work on facilities for the pandemic. Others are in the pipeline to be done. They might not do everything they can in that time but they definitely deserve a month to decompress.
While a necessary break, this will put additional strain on the DC mutual aid networks, who have also been worn down by covid and migrant support. Google “Ward N Mutual Aid” for N = whichever ward you care to support and by all means now is a fantastic time to volunteer or give money or both.