We can all be proud of the numerous achievements of Feed the Fight Kalamazoo this Spring.
With your generous financial support, we’ve delivered more than 5300 meals from 74 local restaurants (logos in graphic above). The 70+ volunteers in Feed the Fight Kalamazoo have provided morale boosting meals to first responders and healthcare workers at a critical time for our community. These are staggering accomplishments for a group that started in early April!
Local media – television, radio, and online – have profiled our work as an all-volunteer operation. If you haven’t seen the ‘Backstory’ in June’s Encore magazine about Feed the Fight Kalamazoo, check it out here or be sure to get a print copy. Local businesses (Louie’s Trophy House, Tempo Vinho, Hydrangeas Boutique, UniQ Jewelry, and ONEHope Wines) have held fundraisers for FTFK. We also appreciate the support of Colleagues International as fiscal sponsor of FTFK.
Spring has given way to summer and it is a time of transitions, in so many ways. In Michigan, we have flattened the curve (for now) with the coronavirus; our healthcare and first responder partners tell us that their daily operations have become “closer to normal.” We all suspect, however, that there will be a resurgence of Covid-19 cases at some point later this year. Feed the Fight Kalamazoo wants to be ready when our community’s first responders and healthcare workers ramp up their operations again to combat this unusual pandemic. Also, our community and country are dealing with broad societal shifts. FTFK operates as a project of Colleagues International. We encourage you to read their statement – Where We Stand – with regard to the dual upheaval of COVID-19 and the killing of George Floyd, both laying bare the deep structural and institutional inequities in this country.
Last week we held meetings with our volunteers to look at our summer operations and how to be ready when the second wave happens. Here is our summer plan:
Feed the Fight Kalamazoo will undertake pinpoint deliveries this summer, while continuing active fundraising, events, and public communications efforts as appropriate. As has always been the case, our core mission is to support our frontline healthcare workers and first responders in dealing with this pandemic. Raising community awareness of our mission and building financial readiness will allow us to continue the amazing work we have already accomplished. We will be ready to answer the call when our frontline healthcare workers are overwhelmed anew. We must be prepared to answer their call.
THANK YOU for the donations you’ve made to support our frontline healthcare workers and first responders, while keeping our local restaurants busy. Today, we ask you to take two actions: Please continue sharing the impact of FTFK on social media and to your friends and neighbors, and please consider making another gift to Feed the Fight so that we can be prepared for “Round 2” when it arrives.
Keep well and let’s continue to Feed the Fight,
Adam, Jodi, and Sally
