Last updated: April 27, 2020
by Nadia Heyd nheyd@thestorefront.org
5n2 Kitchens has been a longtime partner of The Storefront. Prior to the Coronavirus emergency, they served more than 1200 free and healthy meals to the Scarborough community at 8 locations every week, and The Storefront was one of those locations. Since the emergency hit and congregate dining sites like The Storefront have been forced to close their doors to public gatherings, 5n2 has pivoted. They are still focused on getting free and healthy food to community members who need it, but for everyone’s safety, they have moved to a “contactless” food delivery model. If you or someone you know needs food, please visit this form hosted on 5n2’s website. If you are able to give food, please read on!
5n2 Kitchens has requested our help, and we’re passing that request on to you. Right now, the most urgent request is for people to donate food.
5n2 Kitchens is looking for people (or groups who have the capacity to safely work together and practice physical distancing) who can independently purchase, sort, and bag dry goods and fresh produce, and bring these bagged goods to their location at 2050 Ellesmere Road, Unit 7B on Monday and/or Wednesday mornings between 10 and 10:30am. Why does the food need to be sorted into bags? Because when a community member asks for food support, 5n2 delivers a bag of dry goods and a bag of fresh produce. Your effort to pre-sort the food before you deliver it makes food delivery more streamlined and efficient.
5n2 is looking for 40 bags each of dry goods and fresh produce on Monday or Wednesday mornings…but you need not contribute at that scale! Any number of bags you can contribute is welcome.
How should I pack these bags?
- DRY GOODS: each bag should contain 10-12 items such as pasta, sauce, soup, cans of beans, fish, tomatoes, etc, oil, salt, sugar, etc.
- FRESH PRODUCE: each bag should contain an assortment of fresh produce, about 12 servings of fruits and vegetables.
We’re trying to get a sense of how many people can contribute food and how much they are able to contribute. It would help a lot if you can please complete our form. Your responses will be received by staff at East Scarborough Storefront and shared with 5n2 Kitchens.
Once you complete the form, there is no need to wait to hear from anyone. You can go ahead and deliver your contribution to 5n2 on the very next Monday and/or Wednesday between 10 and 10:30 am.
If you have any questions, there is a space in the form where you can enter your question, and we will respond, or you can contact Nadia at The Storefront at nheyd@thestorefront.org or leave a voice message at 647-347-1693 ext 22 (I check and return messages at least once/day).
Thank you!