By Abha Thakkar
Northside Planning Council

August was a month of torrential rainfall and widespread flooding, as we all watched with bated breath, hoping the Tenney Dam and Locks would not fail.

Due to the inclement weather and impassable roads, many of the 65 food businesses that work at FEED Kitchens were not able to operate for the better part of two weeks, and Taste of Madison, one of the critical revenue-generating events in a food cart’s annual budget, was compromised due to the rains. Startup food businesses are already amongst the  most vulnerable new businesses, and many of the businesses FEED serves are owned by low-income and minority entrepreneurs. This disaster was enough to put them on precarious footing. We’re hopeful that some business relief funds will come through to provide them support, and we are monitoring that process carefully and advocating where we can.

And because our food businesses couldn’t work, they couldn’t rent kitchen space. FEED appears to have incurred a $13,000 loss in rental revenue, as compared to previous Augusts. Furthermore, because of the humidity, our freezer and cooling systems were under constant stress, and our air conditioners had to work harder to clear the moisture, inflating our energy bill. And then our roof sprung a leak from accumulated water. We estimate at least a $15,000 loss due to the floods, during a month that was supposed to act as a revenue bulwark for FEED.

If federal disaster funds are approved, it’s not clear whether a nonprofit would qualify for relief for indirect losses. We would be grateful for any donations in support of disaster recovery: http://northsideplanningcouncil.org/donate.