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Log inMeeting notes 2/13 and 2/27 & Brando comments
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Meeting notes 2/13 and 2/27 & Brando comments
by mrso.champaignurbana Thu Apr 13, 2017 10:37 pm
Hey all. Apologies this took me so long. We talked about food stuff at both these meetings, here are the notes I took, lightly edited/formatted to be more coherent.
There are a lot of ideas here. So if Amara or IMC don't work out we have a lot of options. Like we said at the last meeting, I think informing ourselves of every option available before proceeding would be the smartest way to do this, so that later on we don't have a "oh shit, that would have been way smarter!" moment after it's too late to change things.
For me, I still need to talk to Josh Boyd (waiting on him to be available), my anarchist lawyer pal (we should probably get more info about all this first?), and I messaged Brian Dolinar (program director at IMC), he said he'd be happy to talk to me. I'll see if I can do that this weekend.
Okay! Notes from meetings are as follows:
2/13
FOOD DRIVE
Philly Socialists – “community survival” project – may include food drive – they have a facebook page called “Philly Socialists”
-Businesses/organizations who may be helpful to us:
Common Ground
The Red Herring – maybe too far away from people who need it?
The Food Bank
Daily Bread
Times Center
Women & Children in Transition (correct name?)
The Phoenix: Day Time Drop In Centber
Food Not Bombs?
Presbyterian Church on Green Street
Restaurants/hotels/catering/etc willing to set aside food?
Panera – Krysta?
We need to think about accessibility – bus routes and whatnot to get to where we’ll be providing food
People avoiding us because we’re socialists?
Do a pop up in a different spot each time? We could maybe avoid legal ramifications this way – if we want to go that route.
Stigma of being homeless – transportation to them. As in, ways to reach out to people who may not be actively seeking something like this because they are embarrassed or something. I feel like this may be a bit too much effort wasted. If embarrassment gets in the way, there are people more desperate than you. Still, good consideration if anyone wants to pursue that.
Other places doing similar stuff – ask if they have extra stuff to give to us. Common Ground produce shrink!
CLOTHING DRIVE
Courage Connection in Lincoln Square
3 Spinners
***********************
2/27
Get our name out while fulfilling a need – without “evangelizing”
Food Not Bombs guide on how to start a food drive
Connie’s friend moving here from Springfield: Started/joined a FNB group everywhere they’ve lived
Food Not Bombs criticism: anarchist leanings? Is it just anarchists feeding other anarchists?
-repurposing their approach
WHY do this if there are already other groups doing it?
-Gives us a public face. More tangible, organized, etc.
-Lack of food security a major problem. Even if we can’t totally fill the gap, it can teach us the particulars of this problem.
-Not immediate goal, but, leading to growing your own food (us as well as the people receiving food)
Maybe get people who benefit from this involved the same way we are. Self-sustaining, etc
LAWS
Copy/paste from 2-12-2017:
“Certifications required? – we need commercial kitchen
Legal vs. not legal – will we get arrested? Just tell us to quit? What will happen?
Champaign vs. Urbana laws?
Selling food vs. giving it away
Options between tarting a this kind of effort vs. joining one
Need Food Handler’s Certification - $25 and about 2 hours of your time”
Andrew:
-community service with Times Center. Times Center is subject to the same laws as restaurants?
-people who come to food pantries etc. likely not in a position to join a group like ours
-what are our objectives? Short and long term
Constantin (response):
-dorm kitchens available? Allen Hall? Church kitchens? (Thomas: Winsor Road Church & Transportation w/ van)
-IMC, West Side Park (both near lots of bus lines)
Colin: totally open, unused kitchen at Amara Yoga (former Great Impasta)
Short/long term: short: feed ppl. Long: autonomous where we don’t need to directly be involved in it. The people receiving assistance are the ones running it.
How do people end up in this situation? Lack of validation from people?
-validation for people receiving help who *are* able to get involved
Colin: community garden? House by his place just got bulldozed. Owner may sit on empty plot for a while?
Other community gardens?
Each person growing 1 to 2 crops in their yard rather than a centralized space that may not be reachable
Sphere thing to grow a shit load of produce
Develop a protocol of how to spread our name in this context without evangelizing/proselytizing
Talk to people rather than shoving a pamphlet in their face
Creates infrastructure
Go to place where all sorts of people are (West Side Park) rather than
IMC – talk to people waiting for the bus and whatnot
Elizabeth Simpson – SURJ (showing up for racial justice)
Volunteer in other groups and wear MRSO shirts, etc
There are a lot of ideas here. So if Amara or IMC don't work out we have a lot of options. Like we said at the last meeting, I think informing ourselves of every option available before proceeding would be the smartest way to do this, so that later on we don't have a "oh shit, that would have been way smarter!" moment after it's too late to change things.
For me, I still need to talk to Josh Boyd (waiting on him to be available), my anarchist lawyer pal (we should probably get more info about all this first?), and I messaged Brian Dolinar (program director at IMC), he said he'd be happy to talk to me. I'll see if I can do that this weekend.
Okay! Notes from meetings are as follows:
2/13
FOOD DRIVE
Philly Socialists – “community survival” project – may include food drive – they have a facebook page called “Philly Socialists”
-Businesses/organizations who may be helpful to us:
Common Ground
The Red Herring – maybe too far away from people who need it?
The Food Bank
Daily Bread
Times Center
Women & Children in Transition (correct name?)
The Phoenix: Day Time Drop In Centber
Food Not Bombs?
Presbyterian Church on Green Street
Restaurants/hotels/catering/etc willing to set aside food?
Panera – Krysta?
We need to think about accessibility – bus routes and whatnot to get to where we’ll be providing food
People avoiding us because we’re socialists?
Do a pop up in a different spot each time? We could maybe avoid legal ramifications this way – if we want to go that route.
Stigma of being homeless – transportation to them. As in, ways to reach out to people who may not be actively seeking something like this because they are embarrassed or something. I feel like this may be a bit too much effort wasted. If embarrassment gets in the way, there are people more desperate than you. Still, good consideration if anyone wants to pursue that.
Other places doing similar stuff – ask if they have extra stuff to give to us. Common Ground produce shrink!
CLOTHING DRIVE
Courage Connection in Lincoln Square
3 Spinners
***********************
2/27
Get our name out while fulfilling a need – without “evangelizing”
Food Not Bombs guide on how to start a food drive
Connie’s friend moving here from Springfield: Started/joined a FNB group everywhere they’ve lived
Food Not Bombs criticism: anarchist leanings? Is it just anarchists feeding other anarchists?
-repurposing their approach
WHY do this if there are already other groups doing it?
-Gives us a public face. More tangible, organized, etc.
-Lack of food security a major problem. Even if we can’t totally fill the gap, it can teach us the particulars of this problem.
-Not immediate goal, but, leading to growing your own food (us as well as the people receiving food)
Maybe get people who benefit from this involved the same way we are. Self-sustaining, etc
LAWS
Copy/paste from 2-12-2017:
“Certifications required? – we need commercial kitchen
Legal vs. not legal – will we get arrested? Just tell us to quit? What will happen?
Champaign vs. Urbana laws?
Selling food vs. giving it away
Options between tarting a this kind of effort vs. joining one
Need Food Handler’s Certification - $25 and about 2 hours of your time”
Andrew:
-community service with Times Center. Times Center is subject to the same laws as restaurants?
-people who come to food pantries etc. likely not in a position to join a group like ours
-what are our objectives? Short and long term
Constantin (response):
-dorm kitchens available? Allen Hall? Church kitchens? (Thomas: Winsor Road Church & Transportation w/ van)
-IMC, West Side Park (both near lots of bus lines)
Colin: totally open, unused kitchen at Amara Yoga (former Great Impasta)
Short/long term: short: feed ppl. Long: autonomous where we don’t need to directly be involved in it. The people receiving assistance are the ones running it.
How do people end up in this situation? Lack of validation from people?
-validation for people receiving help who *are* able to get involved
Colin: community garden? House by his place just got bulldozed. Owner may sit on empty plot for a while?
Other community gardens?
Each person growing 1 to 2 crops in their yard rather than a centralized space that may not be reachable
Sphere thing to grow a shit load of produce
Develop a protocol of how to spread our name in this context without evangelizing/proselytizing
Talk to people rather than shoving a pamphlet in their face
Creates infrastructure
Go to place where all sorts of people are (West Side Park) rather than
IMC – talk to people waiting for the bus and whatnot
Elizabeth Simpson – SURJ (showing up for racial justice)
Volunteer in other groups and wear MRSO shirts, etc
mrso.champaignurbana- Posts : 6
Join date : 2016-10-07
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