Hundreds of free meals were distributed Tuesday by the Greater Grand Rapids branch of the NAACP and the Black Impact Collaborative.
"With COVID-19 it's so clear to us that needs are amplified, and so we wanted to meet some direct needs here in our community," said Dallas Lenear, acting chair of the Black Impact Collaborative, which formed to meet the needs of Black residents impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
"One way to do that was to provide some food as we are inching towards Thanksgiving," Lenear said. "We wanted to be specific about the type of food that we provided, as well as, who resourced those items."
The Thanksgiving Soul Food Feast Giveaway included goods from three Black business owners, including South East Market, Groundswell Community Farm and Wilhelmina's Kitchen.
The meal boxes contained turkey, collard greens, macaroni and cheese, butternut squash, fresh onions and garlic, cornbread and butter and a homemade sweet potato pie from Wilhelmina's Kitchen.
"As we're approaching the Thanksgiving holiday, we're trying to encourage families not to gather," said Kareem Scales, administrator of operations for the NAACPGR. "So through this effort, we were able to provide families with the same soulful meals that they would get at say grandma's house without putting grandma in danger."
In addition to the meals, the YMCA and Spectrum Health provided families with bags of fresh produce, and Bethany Christian Services and the Grand Rapids Center for Community Transformation provided children's toys.
The Black Impact Collaborative is working to identify the needs of community members as the COVID-19 pandemic further highlights long-standing systemic disparities.
"I hope that the community comes away feeling, and knowing that there are organizations and individuals who are connected to them, and who know what their needs are and who are working actively to meet those needs on a regular basis," Lenear said.
The NAACPGR and the Black Impact Collaborative are partnering again on Dec. 5 for a COVID-19 testing event that will include a PPE distribution.
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