Mera Community Meals - Update 2

L-R above: Juan, Steph, Rogelio, Kibra & Iman, plus Tim, Aisha, Ino and Emily

March 22nd - Just over a week ago, we put the community meals idea out on social media fearing what was about to come, and truly devastated the service industry by Monday. On Tuesday night, our newly assembled team was busy prepping in the kitchen. Saturday marked day four of distribution and we have given out 1,040 meals. Today and tomorrow we are resting and recharging, and planning for the week ahead while considering new meal requests and ways to make weekly packages in order to limit how much people are leaving their houses. The support we’ve received thus far has been beyond incredible. We evaluated our budget and it cost us about $1200/day (labor, food, kitchen rent) over the past four days. With our current funds on hand, we can continue through Friday. If we can reduce our food costs through any sort of bulk food donation, we can stretch the budget even further, keeping people working and fed even longer. We have distributed to community members throughout Baltimore, and yesterday to the incredible healthcare workers and essential support staff at University of Maryland and Johns Hopkins. We continue to talk to individuals throughout the city and it's clear there is a glaring gap in food services for families and adults without kids. Our goal continues to be to help fill these gaps the best we can, while keeping our team and everyone involved safe and heathy while respecting public heath measures. Thank you for your ongoing support. With love, the Mera Kitchen & Friends team!