Help Off the Grid Support Bay Area Relief Efforts
As California enters into what is already considered the worst wildfire season on record —with more than 20 fires currently active throughout the Bay Area—the need to come together as a community is more important than ever.
Since COVID-19 hitting the Bay Area in rapid form and the issuance of “shelter-in-place,” our team at Off the Grid has quickly adapted our services and repurposed our assets to support at-risk communities, including feeding Grocery Store Employees, low-income families affected by COVID-19, and at-risk seniors.
Our newest endeavor is the San Jose COVID Food Relief Program, which is a temporary food program that delivers local delicious groceries to high-risk individuals for COVID-19 or those who have faced economic hardships due to COVID-19. Eligible participants can receive groceries delivered once per week. The program is free and available for qualified participants until December 30th, 2020. Learn more here.
On June 5th, 2020, we made a commitment to our community of Employees, Creators, and Guests to take an active approach to help lift the Black community. We committed to providing $500K worth of revenue/economic opportunities to Black-owned businesses within the Bay Area and quadrupling (4x) the number of Black-owned businesses who are a part of our food Creator network through the end of this year.
As California enters into what is already considered the worst wildfire season on record—with more than 20 fires currently active throughout the Bay Area—the need to come together as a community is more important than ever. There is an urgent need to help those who have lost their homes and livelihoods as a result of the fires. Additionally, our first responders who are risking their lives to protect local residents and their property are also in need of staying strong, healthy, and nourished. Get involved by donating meals or partnering with us here.
Since the announcement of COVID-19 hitting the Bay Area in rapid form and the issuance of “shelter-in-place,” our team at Off the Grid has quickly adapted our services and repurposed our assets to support at-risk communities, including feeding grocery store employees, low-income families affected by COVID, and at-risk seniors. Through our experience supporting those affected with recent fire seasons, as well as the pandemic, we recognize the vast importance of unifying our efforts and coordinating relief in order to have the largest possible impact. Contact us here to learn how you can get involved.
Oakland Great Plates Delivered Program:
Our newest endeavor is the Oakland Great Plates Delivered Program, which is a temporary food program that delivers two free restaurant meals a day to older adults in Oakland who are at heightened risk due to COVID-19 and are unable to obtain or prepare meals on their own while sheltering in place. The program is free and available for qualified participants through March 2021. Learn more here.
Food Insecure Individuals and Families:
Through our partnership with the Great Plates Delivered SF program, we are delivering three free restaurant meals a day to older adults in San Francisco who are at heightened risk due to COVID-19 and are unable to obtain or prepare meals on their own while sheltering in place. As of August 2020, we have served over 170k meals to more than 29k food insecure recipients, and this number continues to grow.
We partnered with the San Francisco Department of Emergency Management to feed those who tested positive for COVID-19 and did not have access to food preparation facilities. Our mobile business delivered over 22,700 meals throughout the program.
Frontline Workers:
Hospital Staff
Over two days 6,200 frontline workers received meals from 22 of our third-party small businesses at two Zuckerberg SF General Hospital locations in a partnership with the ZSFG COVID-19 Fund.
Grocery Store Workers
We fundraised $15,775 (including our $5k match) which allowed our mobile Creators to serve 1,600 meals to grocery store employees at 10 locations.
San Jose COVID Food Relief Program:
Our newest endeavor is the San Jose COVID Food Relief Program, which is a temporary food program that delivers local delicious groceries to high-risk individuals for COVID-19 or those who have faced economic hardships due to COVID-19. Eligible participants can receive groceries delivered once per week. The program is free and available for qualified participants until December 30th, 2020. Learn more here.
On June 5th, 2020, we made a commitment to our community of Employees, Creators, and Guests to take an active approach to help lift the Black community. We committed to providing $500K worth of revenue/economic opportunities to Black-owned businesses within the Bay Area and quadrupling (4x) the number of Black-owned businesses who are a part of our food Creator network through the end of this year.
As of August 17th, 2020, a little over two months since our initial commitment, we’re pleased to share that we have passed the halfway mark to our pledge. Through our work with the Great Plates Delivered San Francisco program—a program that feeds food-insecure seniors who are at risk due to COVID-19—we have been able to add 7 new Black-owned businesses to our network of Creators. As a result, we have put $262,210 of revenue back into our Creator community of Black-owned businesses, and we’re just getting started.
If you are a Black-owned food business—or have ideas about how Off the Grid can support Bay Area Black businesses you’d like to share with us—please reach out to us here.
