Tallahassee Food Not Bombs 2023 EOY Update
Published on December 21, 2023 by Robert Lee
Happy Winter Solstice to all our supporters! We wanted to start off our end of year update by saying thank you to everyone who has donated to our collective and projects, this has been our first full year using Open Collective and it has been a huge help for our mutual aid projects!
In 2023 we had a lot of goals that we were able to accomplish, we were able to grow and build more relationships with other organizations locally, as well as around Florida and the Southeast. Our biggest accomplishments this year were;
- We partnered with Tallahassee Humanists, who have consistently been coming to our meal shares. Tally Humanists brings personal care supplies, hygiene supplies, socks and other donated clothes plus they are a huge help in helping us provide bus passes to the community.
- We started our Bus Pass Fund, a project under our collective to raise money for 31-day bus passes that we distribute for free to people in need in our local community.
- We distributed 310 bus passes this year, along with our friends at Tallahassee Humanists and Sunshine Pantries. (That’s over $5,890!)
- We partnered with Lemon Drop Foundation, a local non-profit, to help them distribute free food and clothing to our local community.
- We were able to build a relationship with Trinity Methodist Church, which is next to where we set up our meal shares. Trinity Methodist lets us use their dishwasher, as well as provides some storage space so we have been able to transition to reusable plates, bowls and utensils. This is not only more environmentally friendly, but also saves us lots of money that we can then use for other projects.
- We were able to enroll in a program through ISaveFL that provides us with free Narcan to distribute throughout our local community.
- We consistently set up a meal share, every single Sunday in 2023, providing countless people with free hot food, water, coffee and other necessities.
- We helped dozens of families throughout the year by providing free grocery deliveries for those with transportation issues.
While we had many accomplishments and moments of joy this year, it was also a very difficult year for many of our volunteers, and for our collective as a whole. Seeing the oppression against our LGBTQ comrades has been very difficult, especially for our volunteers who are targeted by this oppression. The continuing rise of the cost of living, while people's wages stagnate, has made our mission more difficult in many ways. It seems there are never enough resources or people to help compared to the scale of people in need. We have also seen unimaginable suffering and death on a truly horrific scale in Palestine, our hearts go out to all the Palestinian people, and we hope to see a world where Palestine can live free of apartheid and oppression.
The biggest challenge our collective faced as a group this year was the senseless murder of our comrade, Manuel “Tortuguita” Paez Teran at the hands of Georgia police. Our dear comrade, who most of us knew as Manny, went to Atlanta to protect the Weelaunee Forest and stand up against the building of a highly militarized police training center, AKA Cop City. Manny was murdered by police on January, 18th 2023, they were shot over 57 times, while they had their arms raised in a sitting position. We will never forget Manny. Their spirit of love, joy and resistance will continue in all our hearts like a flame. We will continue to fight, to stand up and to help our community just as Manny would have. Viva Viva Tortuguita!!
With 2024 just around the corner we are excited, we are excited to continue to grow and see what the future holds in store for our collective, and the struggle for liberation as a whole. Here are some future plans that we’re working towards that we would like to highlight;
- Creating a partnership with Sunshine Pantries to help them launch a Free Grocery Store in Tallahassee.
- Finding local businesses and organizations to partner with to distribute Narcan.
- Creating a coalition of local organizations, residents, and students to push for a free bus pass program for the unhoused community in Tallahassee. (Similar to what was passed in Austin, TX in October of this year.)
2023 was certainly an eventful year, full of some happy joyful moments, as well as some absolutely heartbreaking events. We look forward to what the future holds, and are ready to stand against any further challenges as well as embrace any positive change. Again, thank you to all our supporters for your donations. Your support makes it possible for us to expand and do even more for our community. We Keep Us Safe!
Solidarity Forever,
-Tallahassee Food Not Bombs