Donate to this project
  • Macia Denson and the Elder Food Box Program
  • Mayleen Cumberbatch, our Elder Box advisor
  • Delivering fresh produce to an elder community member
  • We love our neighbors!
project leader
Sharon S
location
2029 Fulton Street
(Ocean Hill-Brownsville, East Bushwick)
latest update rss
WE DID IT!!

the project

‘If All the Stores Close, We Need Food’: Community Gardens Adapt to the Pandemic - Phoenix Community Garden featured in the New York Times.

Because of the pandemic, our community elders should be staying inside. They are among the most vulnerable to Covid-19. Because we recognized the danger, the Fresh Food Box Program at Phoenix Community Garden began collecting money to provide fresh fruit and vegetables to elders in isolation. We have recruited a team of volunteers to deliver the bags of produce and pantry staples following social distancing protocols. These volunteers are also checking in with the elders, making sure they're ok and have everything that they need. As the weeks have worn on, it looks like shelter-in-place and social distancing restrictions will be going on for several more months. We are committed to providing food security to every elder that we add to our list by providing them with a fresh food box every week. Currently, we are working with 72 elders. 

We were recently featured in National Geographic's How are older Americans fighting isolation during the pandemic?: "Bernadette Mitchell, a Phoenix Garden volunteer, delivers a bag of vegetables and produce to 78-year-old Norman Stout, who is blind. Volunteers meet at Phoenix Garden every Saturday morning to pack the bags. Natalie Peart, a Phoenix Garden volunteer, bundles fresh herbs to add to the produce bags."

the steps

The process is pretty simple. On a weekly basis, we determine a count of bags that need to be delivered on Saturday, when we pack the bags and do the distribution.  The steps are:

Monday: Place an order with our distributor, GrowNYC, which is a food distribution hub that sources from regional farmers, and with our other partners who provide organic, healthy pantry items

Saturday: Receive delivery, pack bags, hand off bags to our volunteer deliverers.

Sunday: Call the bag recipients to see how they like the bag and take notes for next week.

why we're doing it

Even before the pandemic, Ocean Hill-Brownville and East Bushwick was a "food swamp" area -- you could get all the fast food and potato chips that you wanted, but fresh healthy fruits and vegetables are not readily available. By providing a weekly bag of produce plus high-quality pantry staples, we are making sure our elders are fed and their immune systems are boosted.

budget

Disbursed budget 12.23.30

One bag of fresh fruit and vegetables, plus some basic pantry items is about $15 - $17 a person (produce through Grow NYC= $10; pantry staples (rice, beans, etc.) = $5-7).

We work with 72 elders, and have a weekly cost of about $1,150, and a monthly cost of $5,000. With $30,000 we can get through the end of this year until June 2021.

We also spent about $2500 to winterize a basement space at Neighbors Together which allows us to pack up bags and coordinate delivery in the winter during the time that we cannot be in the garden. The additional $499 will go toward additional pantry items like honey or perhaps a protein. 




TOTAL RAISED = $33,564.00 $33,564.00
ioby Platform Fee waived $35.00
ioby Donation Processing Fee (3%) $530.76 $529.71
TOTAL TO DISBURSE= $33,033.24 $32,999.29

Revised Budget 11.30.20

One bag of fresh fruit and vegetables, plus some basic pantry items is about $15 - $17 a person (produce through Grow NYC= $10; pantry staples (rice, beans, etc.) = $5-7).

We work with 72 elders, and have a weekly cost of about $1,150, and a monthly cost of $5,000. With $30,000 we can get through the end of this year until June 2021.

 

 



PROJECT FUNDING NEEDED = $3,000
ioby Platform Fee waived
ioby Donation Processing Fee (3%)
(Donation processing fee does not apply to match funding.)		 $450
TOTAL TO RAISE = $30,000
Donation processing fees apply to donations only. 100% of match funding goes to projects. Please note, fees are estimated here and final numbers may change based on the final amount raised and amount of match funding applied to this campaign.  

 

 

 

Revised Budget 10.29.20:

One bag of fresh fruit and vegetables, plus some basic pantry items is about $15 - $17 a person (produce through Grow NYC= $10; pantry staples (rice, beans, etc.) = $5-7).

We work with 72 elders, and have a weekly cost of about $1,150, and a monthly cost of $4,500. With $25,000 we can get through the end of this year and the Spring of 2021. 



PROJECT FUNDING NEEDED = $25,000
ioby Platform Fee waived
ioby Donation Processing Fee (3%) $773
TOTAL TO RAISE = $25,773

 

 

Original:

One bag of fresh fruit and vegetables, plus some basic pantry items is about $14 a person (produce through Grow NYC= $10; pantry staples (rice, beans, etc.) = $4).

We work with 72 elders, and have a weekly cost of about $1,000, and a monthly cost of $4,000. With $20,000 we can get through the end of this year and the Spring of 2021. 



PROJECT FUNDING NEEDED = $20,000
ioby Platform Fee waived
ioby Donation Processing Fee (3%)
(Donation processing fee does not apply to match funding.)		 $305
TOTAL TO RAISE = $20,305
Donation processing fees apply to donations only. 100% of match funding goes to projects. Please note, fees are estimated here and final numbers may change based on the final amount raised and amount of match funding applied to this campaign.  

 

updates

WE DID IT!!

Posted 12/21/2020 - 3:43pm

Thanks to your incredible generosity, we met - and exceeded! - our goal for the Phoenix Community Garden's Elder Box Program!!! We will enter 2021 knowing that we can continue providing our elders with fresh produce and pantry items through May 2021 under Marcia Denson's tremendous leadership. 

Thank you for being a part of this food security mutual aid effort. We are in awe of our community, and of our ability to take care of each other. Together, we can keep each other safe.

Best wishes for a safe and peaceful holiday season, and for 2021. We'll see you in the garden sometime soon!

THANK YOU!!

Posted 12/18/2020 - 10:37am

All,

Thanks to everyone who contributed! We are only $1755 away from our goal!! With the current match going on, that's $877 that we need to raise before 12/31! You are a part of more than 150 people who give an average of $100 each - what a powerful community! We'll be highlighting the fundraising campaign at this week's Green Market and we're confident that - thanks to all of you! - we'll make our goal/

The winter has brought some big changes. We're now at Neighbor's Together (kitty-corner across from the Phoenix Community Garden) where we have use of part of their basement to store pantry items and pack pantry and produce bags. We have a regular schedule of pantry items so that our elders get a carefully thought out mix of necessary items (this week it's eggs, butter, flour, and milk - other weeks it's beans, rice, honey, oats, peanut butter, pasta, and the like). We're getting great feedback from the elders, and they tell us that the produce and pantry items are very welcome. For some, our weekly delivery is the only fresh produce they get.

Our volunteers deliver groceries by foot, bike, and car. We each have a regular "route" and we see the same elders each week. This gives us a chance to say hello, check in, and make sure everyone is doing well. For me, it's one of the highlights of my week to be able to make these deliveries. 

Thanks to IOBY, we've been able to raise nearly $30,000. Since our costs are about $5,000 a month, this money will get us through June 2021. We're very hopeful that by then we will have enough people vaccinated against COVID-19 that this type of delivery won't be necessary. 

Thanks also to IOBY, we've gotten some incredible volunteers, who have helped us weigh out food, pack bags, and deliver the groceries. It's been so wonderful to see the community come together and to meet so many wonderful folks in the neighborhood. The volunteers show up whether it's 90 degrees or 30, and get done what needs getting done.

Our fearless leader, Marcia Denson (who is featured in the video with this campaign) continues to inspire, organize, and direct all of us each week. 

Thank you for all that you've done to make this work possible. They say that justice is what love looks like in public. Thanks for all the public love. 

Best,
Sharon

We're almost to goal thanks to all of you!

Posted 12/06/2020 - 11:31am

All, 

We are so grateful to everyone who has donated! We're only $7,750 away from our goal of $30,000 which will allow us to run the Elder Box Program through June. (We hope that there will be a COVID vaccine and no further need for the program after that. We'll see.) This means we only need $3,875 because IOBY is matching our donations. 

Thanks to those who have given! If you are able, please share the below post on your social media feeds for others who are thinking about giving during the holiday season. We have 25 days left in the campaign, so that's about $150 a day that we need to raise to make goal. Thanks for your help.

I gave to the Phoenix Community Garden Elder Box Program, a food security, mutual aid effort! Please give too. We want our elders to know that they can rely on weekly fresh produce. Help us raise the funds to keep providing fresh produce to our community elders through Spring 2021. The pandemic isn’t going anywhere - but neither are we! RIGHT NOW we have the chance to MATCH EVERY DONATION dollar for dollar. $15 becomes $30 and $30 becomes $60! Help us get the word out!! Here’s the link: https://bit.ly/ElderBox

Thanks again for all that you do for your community!

We're halfway there!

Posted 11/06/2020 - 11:56am

All,

Thank you SO MUCH for your donations to the Elder Box Program! Because of you, we are halfway to our goal! 

If you want to make your support go further, please encourage your friends to join this effort! Feel free to use the below social media post:

The Phoenix Community Garden Elder Box Program is a food security, mutual aid effort - we want our elders to know that they can rely on weekly fresh produce. Help us raise the funds to keep providing fresh produce to our community elders through Spring 2021. The pandemic isn’t going anywhere - but neither are we! RIGHT NOW we have the chance to MATCH EVERY DONATION dollar for dollar. $15 becomes $30 and $30 becomes $60! Help us get the word out!! Here’s the link: https://bit.ly/ElderBox

Thanks again for all that you do for the community!

 

We're getting there!!!

Posted 10/04/2020 - 2:41pm

Thanks so much for all that everyone has done to help us raise money to keep the Elder Box Program! We've hit $1,000 and only $19,000 to go! (But right now that's only $9,500 because IOBY will double the funds!) We can do it! This weekend we had so many folks packing the bags, delivering the produce and pantry items, and checking in with our elders. We also had a professional photographer taking some pictures, which we'll share soon. Also, the Museum of Food and Drink featured us on Monday, September 28th! SO much going on, and we're happy that you're a part of it. More soon....

photos

This is where photos will go once we build flickr integration

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