SAN FRANCISCO, April 22, 2020 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- SF New Deal Executive Director Lenore Estrada today announced a $50,000 contribution from Someland Foundation to their volunteer-led relief effort.
"The Someland Foundation has shown tremendous leadership in supporting numerous community partnerships to ensure access to food as an essential and basic human right. We are so proud to have the support of the Someland Foundation in our Covid-19 relief initiative to provide meals to San Francisco residents," says Estrada.
In it's fourth week, SF New Deal's Covid-19 relief efforts delivered 26,840 meals to residents and disbursed $291,214 to local food businesses. Estrada notes that before the end of this week, SF New Deal disbursements to local businesses will surpass $1 million.
"The funds provided by SF New Deal's Covid-19 relief program is an important source of immediate cash for small businesses, as many government relief programs, including the payroll protection program (PPP), have yet to release any funds to them. These are payments for services they are providing, not loans that will have to be repaid back. These are immediate lifelines allowing small businesses to support existing commitments to their staff and to extend employment to former staff that may have been previously laid off," says Estrada.
Local and national supporters contributed $160,000 last week, allowing SF New Deal to begin meal services to additional community sites. One of those sites includes Gum Moon Women's Residence in Chinatown, which received their first meal delivery on Easter Sunday from Capital Restaurant, a staple for locals and tourists alike.
Founded in 1868, Gum Moon provides comprehensive support services to approximately 3,500 clients throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. Sixty-five percent of Gum Moon clients are immigrant families with young children. Forty percent of their clients have reported significant job and wage losses. They also offer safe sanctuary and transitional housing for survivors of domestic violence and trafficking.
"It was a pleasant surprise for the residents and a reminder that our community cares and we can jointly overcome this pandemic. Hot meals are definitely a big help for the vulnerable population that are unable to go out as much to purchase groceries and cook. We have shared kitchen facilities and social distancing is challenging during meal time." says Gloria Tan, Executive Director of Gum Moon.
Estrada notes, "The immediate impact of SF New Deal matches community resources to meet the scope of need all around us. We are taking collective action to build new possibilities to resource vital, long-serving, community organizations at a time when they are providing compassionate care in unprecedented ways."
SF New Deal is pairing restaurants with existing City and Community Organizations to cook and distribute food to churches, clinics, public housing sites, SROs, and through outreach to homebound neighbors. Our community partners include:
- Asian Pacific Fund Community Foundation
- Catholic Charities San Francisco
- Chinatown Community Development Center (CCDC)
- City of San Francisco's Human Rights Commission (SFHRC)
- Coleman Advocates
- Korean Community Center
- Larkin Street Youth Services
- Refugee and Immigrants Support in Education SF (RISE SF)
- SF African American Faith-Based Coalition (SFAAFBC)
- San Francisco Department of Public Health (SFDPH)
- Tenderloin Housing Clinic
- UCSF Citywide Case Management (CCM) & SF Pretrial Diversion Project
- World Central Kitchen
- ZSF General Hospital Department of Psychiatry
SF New Deal mobilized on March 23, 2020 to provide immediate relief to small businesses while they await government aid in the wake of the Covid-19 crisis. SF New Deal is here to help our neighbors stay safe. Addressing their needs is:
- CRITICAL to flattening the curve and preserving the capacity of local medical systems to address acute needs
- COMPASSIONATE by keeping our communities nourished, food secure, and connected
- PREVENTATIVE by providing community based, restorative care to chronically underserved communities, especially those who lack mobility, are housing insecure, or are justice-involved
- THE RIGHT THING TO DO. No one should go hungry during this time.
The shelter-in-place order is causing severe disruption to small businesses. An estimated 30 percent of restaurants will permanently close as a result of this shutdown. Approximately 25 percentt of restaurant workers are immigrants and/or undocumented and thus not eligible for many government programs. Supporting local small restaurants to fill this community need serves as a vital lifeline for employers and those looking to work.
SF New Deal launched with a personal commitment of $1,000,000 from Twitch CEO Emmett Shear. Says Shear, "We know that our local economies will take time to recover, but we cannot let our neighbors go hungry. Local businesses and organizations are ready to do the work to make food and to help organize delivery to those in need, but they need support from ALL of us. Join us in helping support them."
SFND is a registered 501(c)3 nonprofit. Personal donations can be made via SFnewdeal.org. Any individuals interested in making larger gifts from donor-advised funds, trusts, corporate sponsorship, or employer match programs can contact SF New Deal at [email protected] or by calling 415-967-8247.
We are working closely with our partners to support the public good - many hands make work light and together we are healing our City of St. Francis. Join us.
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SOURCE SF New Deal
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