The Gambian Youth Organization Food Relief Fund

Since March of 2020, the Gambian Youth Organization has been at the forefront of COVID-19 relief, providing more than 500,000 meals to families, and PPE. When COVID-19 was it its peak, the Gambian Youth Organization collaborated with many CBO's and mutual groups to store food at its community center, and delivered food straight to the doors of the most vulnerable community members. Currently the Gambian Youth Organization hosts weekly food distributions at their community center, which serves about 400 families per week. 

The Gambian Youth Organization is located in the 15th congressional district, in the Fordham area, which has the highest percentage of food insecurity in children. It is cruical that we continue providing these services to our friends in need. Each week at the Gambian Youh Organization Food Pantry the amount of people that stand on our lines increase, while our resources are being depleted. At times we are forced to turn away families due to the limited amount of food we have.

We hope to use the funds for the following:

Funding for food storage area-Our community center plays a crucial role in the success of this project. In fact without  the utilization of our community center we will not be able to have a food relief program. With the help of our community center, all food distribution, and food deliveries are made possible. We need funds to help us cover (Rent, Electricity,Water, etc)

Stipends for volunteers- We are currently operating our food relief program based on volunteers who live in the community. Though our operations have been going well with our amazing volunteers, most of our volunteers are high school, and college students, and unemployed. Amongst our volunteers we have drivers  who help us transport food to and from our organization.We hope to offer stipends to our volunteers , to encourage them to continue serving their community. Stipends will cover their travel, and their breakfast/lunch. 

Food for consistent food distribution- The Gambian Youth Organization usually gets its food donated from parnerting CBO's, opportunities that arise from the city, and funds raised by the organization's members. Though we have the mentioned supply chains, those are not enough to consistently provide food to families on a week to week basis. The food we get from our partners is contingent on their supply, and at times we have had to close the doors of our pantry because of the lack of food. We are seeking funds to help us purchase culturally relevant goods sourced locally, to continue our services. 

Committed to Fight Against Food Insecurity & Injustice

Mere promises are not enough to solve the issues facing underserved communities. It takes action,courage,and commitement, to battle the injustices shadowing our community. The COVID-19 pandemic has surfaced the heart breaking injustices that our community memebers endure daily. This is especailly true for the people of the Bronx, who are often forgotten,especailly in times of a crisis.Food insecurity is amongst the leading inustices plaguing the folks of our community, which will not go away with silence. Through our food relief program, we are able to serve thousands of families, whom we are committed to serving with transparency, and integrity day to day.

Building a Sense of Community

Our food relief program is unique as it is mostly runs by the youth with diverse backgrounds . For most of our volunteers, this is the first time they have seen the tangible movement of resources.  We believe that the more youth we involve in the project, the better aware and prepared they will be to handle complex situations for the future. 

We really appreciate all of the support we have been receiving from the community. Let's all help our community be a better place of us all.