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HomeMy Public PortalAboutSustaining Watertown Community Fridge - Community FridgeCity of Watertown, MA ARPA Project Proposal Submitted by: Steven Duede Submitted on: May 26, 2023 Request Number: ARPA-21 Project Name: Sustaining Watertown Community Fridge Proposal Type: Organization Watertown Community Fridge Recommended Project Manager: Belmont Watertown United Methodist Church is our 501-c3 fiscal sponsor. Project Summary: The Watertown Community Fridge is seeking funds to continue purchasing fresh healthy food for the community as well as providing a secure, safe & well maintained refridgerator and pantry space. Amount of ARPA Funds Requested: $60,000 Minimum Funds Needed: $30,000 Matching funds available? No Other funds available? Yes Community donations, Foundation support 5,000 Highly Likely Project Narrative: I will use the form to enter narrative Narrative description of the project: The Watertown Community Fridge is a grassroots, community aid organization devoted to providing free access to healthy, food. Our mission is to ensure equitable access to nutritious food for the surrounding community via public -facing refrigerators and pantries that are available seven days a week, twenty-four hours per day in partnership with individuals, businesses, and organizations in the community. Detailed Project Budget: The project is ongoing with funding varying month to month. ARPA funds would allow us more stability to budget with greater consistency. With dedicated funding we can budget $2000 per month for food purchases to stock the fridge plus another approximately $10 to $12k for upkeep, maintenance and other expenses such as web site fees, outreach, cleaning supplies and other unforseen needs. Timeline for the project: Once we have the funds, we can start doing grocery shops/buying gift -cards for volunteers to go grocery shopping immediately. This will have a consistent, and direct impact on the fridge shoppers, reducing food insecurity each time the fridge is filled. Resources required in addition to the ARPA funding: None Metrics for success of the project: The Fridge provides food for approximately 200 residents per month. More consistent food purchases will allow us to increase those numbers and reach more people who are in need of our services. Outputs / outcomes: These funds will allow us to fill the fridge/pantry 3 times a week between December 31st, 2024 and December 31st 2026. Additionally these funds would allow us to maintain the equipment and spaces. What will be the overall benefit? We know that food insecurity increased during the pandemic, and there has been a recent uptick in addition to that since certain benefits for food benefits such as the SNAP programs have decreased in recent months. Funding will allow us to consistently provide fresh healthy food for Watertown residents in need. According to a recent study from Project Bread, 19.2% of households in Massachusetts are food insecure —a number that nearly reaches the highs seen at the onset of the pandemic in 2020. Community fridges like the Watertown Community Fridge started to help meet this growing need during the pandemic, filling critical gaps in food assistance networks by providing easy access to free food to any visitor, any time of day. That need has not diminished as the pandemic has waned. In fact, with pandemic -era supplemental SNAP benefits ending as of March 2023, more local families are finding it harder to get the food they need. By more regularly stocking the fridge through grocery shops led by our network of volunteers will mean being able to more consistently provide access to food for our neighbors in need. WATERTOWN COMMUNITY FRIDGE Dear Counselors Thank you so very much for your consideration for an ARPA grant. The Watertown Community Fridge has been in operation since October of 2021, and we have consistently used donated funds to do food purchases for the fridge and to maintain a safe space for users of our services. The Fridge has a Coordinating Committee of nine people that meets monthly and communicates about fridge related tasks and goals. We have over 20 volunteers that collectively clean, shop for, stock, and maintain the fridge. The fridge is a valuable resource for those experiencing food insecurity. With the exception of a few days when we relocated to our current site in the Spring of 2022 the fridge from its original host site, it has been operating and accessible for 24 hours a day seven days a week. As we stated in the proposal the added funds would allow us to maintain a higher level of service to the community. Please visit our website for details about our program. https://www.watertowncommunityfridge.org/ Thank you Steven Duede The Watertown Community Fridge Team Watertowncommunityfridge.org I @watertowncommunityfridge I watertowncommunityfridge@gmail.com Helen Robinson W1 l Charitable Fund al t6 Fiv Pa A of wamrm.,A May 24, 2023 To the Watertown City Council Dear Council.0rsa As Chair of the Heim Robinson Wright Charitable Fund Distribution Committee, i am writing in, strong suRport of tF e ARPA grant appI1cation submitted by the SeImonI-1 aterto w n United Methodist Church on behalf of the Watertown Community Fridge. As you may know, the HRW Fund is a primary source of finaricial assistance far W3tertawwn residents experiencing finny types of emergend-es related to health, housing, utility expenses, and food insecurity. We realize that chronic hunger is at the root of many other serious difficulties individuals and families may be experiencing. Far this reason, aver the past year we have made a significant commitment to supporting the Fridge with grants of $600.00 each quarter. While this may Seem like a significant sum, we realize that this amount will buy only a very small fraction aF the food needed by those who rely on the Fridge each and every week. In conversaTion ►with members of the Fridge Coordinating Committee, we have became aware that increasing the inflow of food to the Fridge is their top priorf r, followed by starting a 'rainy day" capital repair Fund frorn which to draw In case of equipment fallure or the need to matte repairs to the shed. We and-prstand that the $60,000 requested from ARPA funds wjII address moth of these critical needs, and assure the continued operation of the fridge without Interruptian well into the future. Based on our long experience serving this community, we believe that the Fridge is providing an invaluable service to the most needy residents of the city, including a large ntirnber of immigrants, the eIderlV living orr marginal f+xed irrcornesr and the unemployed. we respectfuIIV -ask for your wholehearted support aF this invaluable service by fuller funding the Fridge's ARPA request. Gratefully, Bobbie Brown, Chair For the Helen Robinson Wright Charitable Fund Distributiorf Committee