The Urban Canopy’s Distribution branch has donated several thousand pounds in produce to various Mutual Aid groups in Chicago. This is a major effort in our mission to divert imperfect produce from landfills. We are proud to support organizations around the city who have been working tirelessly to feed residents in need well before the time of the Covid-19 pandemic. Below is a list of just a few of the wonderful organizations we’ve helped over the years.

FARM, FOOD, FAMILIAS (FFF)

https://www.gettinggrowncollective.com/

About: https://www.gettinggrowncollective.com/farmfoodfamilias

Farm. Food. Familias Mutual-Aid Meals(FFF) is a project co-led by Getting Grown Collective, Little Village Environmental Justice Organization, Urban Pilon, Fresher Together, Amor y Sofrito and Kwamena to prepare and deliver meals to families in Little Village, Englewood and South Chicago, made up of a high number of essential workers and the most affected communities by COVID-19. In addition they face a lack of access to food, increasingly due to loss of work, existing systematic disenfranchisement, lack of access to healthcare. FFF feel it's important to provide these community members with weekly nutritional and cultural significant meals as an offering of nourishment and mutual care.  Having started with 50 meals on May 6th, 2020, FFF now currently serves 350 meals on weekly bases.

Belmont Cragin Mutual Aid (BCMA) 

Website: https://www.belmontcraginmutualaid.com/?fbclid=IwAR0aYJXYVvgKuExYq6NzetqrNZNqwg1H964Yoyge_2osbaIGoXpVMt4f2gM

About: https://www.belmontcraginmutualaid.com/about

BCMA makes helping one another easy. In the midst of a global pandemic and recession, the best and most effective thing they feel they can do—apart from social distancing—is to be there for each other. BCMA is part of a city-wide mutual aid effort, organized neighborhood by neighborhood. They live in Belmont Cragin and when the coronavirus broke out in Chicago, many began looking for ways to contribute what they could for their neighbors. They partner with neighborhood and area nonprofits and do what they can to help folks get food, supplies, masks and gloves.

Bronzeville/Kenwood Mutual Aid (BKMA)

Website: https://bkmachicago.com/

BKMA is a grassroots group of neighbors, friends, and families who use mutual aid and exchange principles to address, heal and acknowledge their communities’ strengths, gifts, and needs.  BKMA is based in the Bronzeville and Kenwood neighborhoods of Chicago. Formed as a community mutual aid spoke in the greater Chicago Mutual Aid wheel in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The effects of COVID-19 have not only hit these communities as a public health crisis, but also as a socioeconomic crisis. They work in these communities to identify allies and embolden community coalitions and initiatives. This includes everything from working on issues of food justice and resilience, to providing supplies for new mothers, personal protective equipment (PPE), assistance with transportation and translation services to assisting people who need help with filling out applications. As a grassroots organization, they’re 100% self-funded and volunteer-based. 100% of all donations made to BKMA will be used to directly further community initiatives and mutual aid practices.

Food Not Bombs - Humboldt Park

Website: http://foodnotbombs.net/new_site/index.php

Food Not Bombs is a loose-knit group of independent collectives, sharing free vegan and vegetarian food with others. Food Not Bombs' ideology is that myriad corporate and government priorities are skewed to allow hunger to persist in the midst of abundance.

Humboldt Park Solidarity Network

Website: https://www.instagram.com/hpsolidaritynetwork/?hl=en

A volunteer-led group giving away food, toys and more to neighbors in need in Humboldt Park. 

Questions?

Contact the Distribution Team at distribution@theurbancanopy.org for information about availability and ordering.