Fare Community Kitchen 2020 Impact Report and 2021 Goals
Fare Community Kitchen 2020 Impact Report and 2021 Goals
If you read our Fare 2020 Year in Review, you’ll see that launching Fare Community Kitchen (FareCK) soon after the onset of the pandemic in May 2020 was very meaningful for our partners, our business and our team. It allowed us to retain our kitchen and hospitality teams and refocus their talent from serving workplaces and events to serving the community and a network of community-based organizations, as well as positioned Fare to continue toward our Mission of building a just world where food is a force for social change.
In addition to donating 108,947 meals, in 2020 FareCK also invested $66,750 directly into communities by compensating the 22 community-based organization partners that support the distribution of FareCK meals. Paying our partners for their skill, work and time is a foundational piece of FareCK’s model for food assistance.
Fare team member David caught in a moment of joy packing donated meals for our partners to distribute to their communities.
You can also track our weekly impact anytime, anywhere on our Meal Tracker.
We’d like to acknowledge our financial supporters from 2020: Alameda County Social Services, Oakland Public Education Fund and Eat.Learn.Play who, along with some self-funding from Fare Resources Inc., made this pivot and its resulting impact possible.
2020 saw an unprecedented amount of money flowing to food assistance work, and in 2021 FareCK aims to continue to build on the capacity we and our partners have developed in pursuit of our larger goal of supporting the creation of resilient food systems in the communities we serve.
In 2021, FareCK aims to:
Donate 300,000 family and community meals
Sustain 20 jobs on our kitchen and hospitality teams with a starting wage of $23/hour with full benefits
Invest $370,000 directly into 30 partner organizations
Purchase $400,000 in the local food economy, targeting 30% of businesses to be W-BIPOC-owned
To meet these impact targets, we’ve set our funding goal for 2021 at $3.2 million, and will employ full transparency around how we spend that money. Here’s our projection:
Fare <3s the community-based organization partners that distribute our meals, and it lifts our hearts whenever we hear positive feedback about the difference a dignified meal makes in the life of the community members they serve. Here are some quotes from FareCK CBO partners to date that illustrate their value for their partnership with FareCK:
"I love being able to bring food to those who need it most. To our houseless neighbors, our elders, or the plenty of people affected by this pandemic, we see and feel you" - Founder, NIN
“The seniors are so pleased with the meals and the variety. We have had several requests for a second meal which your generous count accommodates. We couldn’t be happier.” - Program Manager, LifeLong Medical
“We are SO DEEPLY THANKFUL for the support that Fare Resources has been able to bring! It is truly a blessing! Bless you all.” - Director, Homies Empowerment
"To have people come out and feed us...it makes [me] feel like there is some hope in the world.”- Houseless meal recipient via Third Parent Family
"My family has greatly benefited from the meals you provide to the students of the Oakland Unified School District. I am the only vegan/gluten free eater in the house and your providing those options is also greatly appreciated. It helps that the meals are so delicious. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" - OUSD School Parent
“The residents love the food! They look forward to the meals each week and appreciate the variety! Many have informed us that they also appreciate having the alternative options as our communities are very diverse! & of course the convenience of not having to cook is always a plus!” - Affordable housing residents via EAH