By Abha Thakkar
Northside Planning Council
“People with disabilities lived at the site I worked. They all seemed to live alone, so coming for the meals was a time of day for a little socializing, which we tried to provide. We developed relationships as best we could with those who came regularly — an additional benefit for some lonely people, made lonelier by the pandemic.”
~A volunteer driver with FEED to Go
The Covid-19 quarantine took effect on Monday, March 16. The Northside Planning Council (NPC) and FEED Kitchens launched FEED To Go, our free meal delivery program, on Thursday, March 19. We knew that FEED was a critical community asset and that we needed to repurpose it to meet emerging needs during the pandemic. Over the next 14 weeks, we delivered 30,300 culturally relevant meals to 15 low-income neighborhoods around Dane County, while keeping 6 food businesses in operation and protecting 35 jobs. It’s time to do it again.
Another volunteer shared a story of her delivery, “The first day we were at our site, there were children on the playground. They wanted meals and said they would take them home and put them in the refrigerator so they’d be safe for later – except for one girl, she said she was hungry and sat right down and ate the meal with her fingers.”
We are hearing from many of the same communities that food insecurity continues to escalate and that the winter is going to be particularly challenging for vulnerable residents. And so we are gearing up to relaunch FEED To Go.
How can you get involved?
Make a donation to our GoFundMe https://charity.gofundme.com/feed-to-go
Volunteer to be a driver for FEED To Go. Fill out our volunteer form at https://bit.ly/2RPTHR4
Bid at our upcoming silent auction from Oct. 15–21: 32auctions.com/SupportFEEDtoGo
Not only will the proceeds from the silent auction be put directly towards free meals for residents, but the gift cards you bid on will drive traffic to our local businesses, who are struggling during this unprecedented time.
Businesses can still donate gift certificates or merchandise until Oct. 12. Contact Lauri Lee at 608-334-4969 or lauri@northsidemadison with donations or questions. Gift cards will be mailed to winners.