Mutual Aid Eastie

Dear neighbors,

I hope you are enjoying this sunny day celebrating all that rises back to life as our Earth warms! (I see our planet as a garden of God, whatever that means to you, so my favorite Springtime activity is watching — in complete awe — seed germination and the growth of plants and the arrival of bees and butterflies, where only weeks ago, the soil was frozen.)

A request for you from Eastie Farm on behalf of Mutual Aid Eastie:

“The mighty ocean is made of many small drops of water.”

That’s a proverb from my mother-tongue (Tamil). No contribution is too small. Offer what you can! I have no doubt that together, we can do something amazing.

eastiefarm.com/mutualaideastiefund

Dear neighbors,

As you probably know, East Boston has been hit hard by the viral outbreak and its socio-economic fallouts. Many of our marginalized neighbors are falling through the cracks in governments’ support initiatives. People who can’t work from home and with kids to care for are unable to go out to earn their livelihood. People with sick members are unable to leave home to pick up food from pantries. Some families, as we all know, have lost loved ones, and, in the midst of grieving, are facing funeral and related expenses. Ongoing linguistic barriers in accessing relevant up-to-date information and status-based barriers in accessing aid are not helping.

Eastie Farm is part of “Mutual Aid Eastie,” a neighbor-led initiative to help neighbors in need. Regular individuals and members of organizations such as NUBE (Neighbors United for a Better East Boston), Cosecha Boston, and Empower East Boston are working hard to locate people in need and find some way or other to satisfy the need. In addition to connecting people with available resources that they may be unaware of, we are also picking up and delivering bulk provisions; arranging for hot meals where that’s the most helpful thing we can do for some families; paying for urgent household expenses including over-the-counter medicine, etc. We are also working hard to keep morality and spirits uplifted as best as we can. We are doing all this without any stipends for the volunteers who are doing their best to stay safe — with their own homemade protection equipment — while paying for gas etc on their own. Some of these volunteers can’t afford to, but they’re still doing the work because they care. Your support will help us sustain this work through these crucial weeks, and step it up as needed. In the spirit of Mutual Aid, let us be a model of a community supporting itself. Let us rise to this occasion!

THANK YOU!

Kannan Thiruvengadam
Coordinator, Mutual Aid Eastie
Host, Zumix Radio
Director, Eastie Farm
Director, JP Green House

P.S. You can visit these sites for more information: https://whatsupeastie.com/ayuda-mutuo-east-boston-y-chelsea/ and https://whatsupeastie.com/informacion-sobre-coronavirus-east-boston/