Feed Durham - A Community Love Project

**Please note: It costs us roughly $2/meal to feed our neighbors. This GoFundMe was launched April 2020. The money you see raised here is spread out over the last 5 years, covering 14 cookouts, where we feed 500 people per day, and multiple grocery giveaways. Rather than taking on the tedious task of launching a new GoFundMe each time we need to raise money, we post here, hoping that donors, old and new, will support our commitment to keeping vulnerable citizens fed, hopeful, and civically-engaged. During our first four years, your generosity helped us feed 175,000+ people. Your continued support will help us feed many hundred thousands more. Let's go!!!**

MLK: A Call to Serve: 1/13/25 - 1/27/25

As we face unprecedented instability and uncertainty, the only way forward calls for us to become better neighbors, to tighten the gaps in our family and community care practices. Please join Feed Durham for a series of guided conversations, service learning projects, and available resources/skills, you can draw upon to keep your Loved Ones safe and well.

Stay tuned. We will publish the schedule the first week of January.

WAYS TO HELP

• Volunteer (In-Person or Virtual). For details, message us at feeddurhamnc-at-gmail-dot-com.

• Lead an activity through Feed Durham - gardening, cooking, community organizing, helping unhoused people, etc. Email us your ideas.

• Donate. Any size contribution helps, along with donating multiple times, as it makes sense for your household, helps.

• Repost our GoFundMe, Report Backs, news stories, and photos. Please offer a few words about why you support the work of Feed Durham along with a link to the GoFundMe - especially when posting Report Backs, news, or photos - just in case people don't have time to read the full post.

• Amplify. Share our work and our asks with your networks - family, friends, social justice, civic, sorority/fraternity, athletic, hobbyist, religious, professional, and neighborhood groups.

• Network us with surpluses and available resources - fresh produce; humanely raised meats; gift cards; skilled labor (especially cooking, landscaping, and building); funding opportunities; gently used clothes, sleeping bags, and blankets washed in dye-free, perfume-free detergent; and, most of all, GREAT PEOPLE.

DONATE

THINGS TO KNOW

All money goes to produce, poultry and spices; equipment rentals; gardening and cooking supplies; annual subscriptions that support operations, organizing and communication; funding for Feed Durham's shoestring staff which manages community relationships, researches and develops solutions that close the gaps between available resources and the people who need them, and leads volunteers in organizing work

While $25 and $50 are the most common donation amounts to Feed Durham, we've received donations as large as $15,000.

ABOUT FEED DURHAM

Feed Durham is a scrappy mutual aid collective that came together in response to mounting hunger in the Durham area, due to COVID. Since 2020, we've fed 167,800 neighbors in need through our sprawling, epic, no-contact cookouts, where we lovingly prepare meals for 500 people per day, and offer grocery give-aways. We feed elders, people living in cars and on the streets, widows, unsupported LGBTQ+ folks, undocumented families, the homebound and chronically ill, elementary students and their families.

Feed Durham is an all-weather volunteer crew that sets up an outdoor kitchen and prepares food in the yard of a private residence with the use of 6 trailer smokers, 2 griddles, 9 burners, 3 washing stations, several socially-distanced tents for produce chopping, and a fridge trailer. Most of our volunteers are community organizers, teachers, artists, farmers, parents, and every day folks. We are a multi-faith, multi-racial, intergenerational collective. We feed people without judgment and serve the community alongside people who come from all walks of life, without judgment. All are welcome so long as folks treat one another with respect and kindness. We believe that we are only as safe as our least hungry neighbor. We serve more than just food. We serve hope.

For 2024, in addition to hosting cookouts, produce giveaways, and repair clinics, we are focused on the following:

For our December 2022 Holiday Grocery Giveaway, in less than 48 hours, we moved more than 18,000 pounds of fresh produce and chicken into Durham as well as Moore County, for folks who lost groceries after the attack on the power grid.

Fall 2022, we launched a Neighborhood Service Corps Initiative to grow food for plant stands and community fridges; install raised garden beds for neighbors in need; redirect our household excesses to people who need our under-used belongings; and share skillsets like basic home repair, outdoor cooking, gardening, land acknowledgement, community organizing, planetary stewardship, etc.

For our 2023 Martin Luther King Jr. Plant + Plan event, we planted thousands of seeds for veggie, fruit and herb gardens - community, family, and indoor. In April 2023, we launched our first Repair Clinic, teaching folks to repair household goods in order to minimize personal expenses and as a landfill diversion practice. Attendees learned sewing, carpentry, and electronics repair.

In Summer 2023, "Lovingly Prepared by: A Multimedia Experience by Feed Durham" opened at the Durham Arts Council. Covering both the first and second floor gallery spaces, "Lovingly Prepared by" is a celebration of Feed Durham’s inspirational organizing during the pandemic. Curated by Feed Durham founder Katina Parker, the show featured artwork, photos, words and videos from a range of makers and community organizers, including: Filmmaker/Photographer Katina Parker, Sculptor/Muralist/Illustrator Dare Coulter, Emmy-nominated journalist/TED Talk Podcast host Saleem Reshemwala, Samantha Everette aka "The Shooting Beauty," Filmmaker Courtney Symone of "Silence Sam" fame, Filmmaker D.L. Anderson, Photographer/Filmmaker Tommy Coyote, Photographer Anna Carson DeWitt, Documentarian Elizabeth Miller-Derstine, Filmmaking Visionary Jasmine Leeward, and Independent Journalist Casey Toth (formerly of the News + Observer). The exhibit was funded by the Bull City Strong Say Something Strong Fund.

Please join us on our journey to eradicate food scarcity in our neighborhoods.

FOLLOW FEED DURHAM

Instagram || Facebook || Twitter || LinkedIn || Patreon

 

MEDIA

Nourish and Flourish-From Cookouts to Raised Beds

Gravy (Published by Southern Foodways)

Words by Katina Parker || Photos by Katina Parker || Jasmine Celosia

A Meal With a Side of Hope 

Wake Forest magazine || Story by Carol Hanner (December 2020)

Filmmaker Katina Parker Feeds Multitudes During the Pandemic 

IndyWeek.com || Story by Sarah Edwards (July 2020)

Safety Looks Like Full Bellies in a Pandemic 

Scalawag || Story by Courtney Napier (November 2020)

 

December 2020 Report Back for Feed Durham

Words by Katina Parker, Photos by Courtney Symone Staton, Jasmine Celosia, Katina Parker, Rhonda Klevansk + Tom Simon

 

October 2020 Report Back for Feed Durham 

Words by Katina Parker; Photos by Jasmine Celosia + Katina Parker

JOIN FEED DURHAM'S NEIGHBORHOOD SERVICE CORPS INITIATIVE

Are you interested in growing food for neighbors in need? Hosting a plant stand? Diverting household goods from landfill by working with your neighbors to clean, repair and donate them? Teaching vital skills like sewing, basic home repair, gardening, community organizing, cooking, plant medicine, etc.? Would you like to learn any of these things?

We know that more disruptions to the supply chain are coming. We must band together; we must work through our differences; we must deepen our relationships with one another in order to keep our communities safe and well.

Food Durham is currently launching pilot programs for our Neighborhood Service Corps Initiative, which will:

Sign up to join our NEIGHBORHOOD SERVICE CORPS INITIATIVE

photo by erin bell

FEED DURHAM VALUES

Every few weeks, we have the distinct honor of cooking for folks who need a tasty meal and a pick-me-up, connecting surplus produce from local farms with under-resourced food programs, and deepening our relationships with one another as we go. Most of our volunteers are community organizers, teachers, artists, farmers, protesters, parents, and everyday folks. All gender expressions and sexual orientations are welcome and celebrated here. We believe that Black lives matter. We practice land acknowledgment and have deep reverence for the indigenous people who stewarded the land upon which we live for thousands of years before America became America, and who continue to seek redress for broken treaties that diminish their/our quality of life. We are determined to leave the planet better than we found it.

Set against the backdrop of Katina’s rolling tree-lined acreage, Feed Durham has become an idyllic place for LGBTQ-GNC people to bring all of who they are to serving their local community while learning survival and culinary skillsets from one another. This is a safe place to meet and talk to folks, COVID-tested or quarantined, whom you might not normally befriend, while washing sweet potatoes or beets, or learning to tend fire, or digging a compost trench. 

We believe that we are only as safe, well, and joyful as our least hungry neighbor.

Feed Durham serves more than just food. We serve hope.

photo by katina parker

RECOMMENDED DONOR LEVELS (any donation amount is welcome) 

• $50 - Individual -  6 to 10 meals 

• $80 - Two people - 12 to 20 meals 

• $125 - Two adults + 2 or 3 kids - 30 to 35 meals 

THE FEED DURHAM MENU 

Our menu is finalized the week before we cook, based upon available produce and meat from local farms and grocery stores.

Our typical menu includes: 

photo by katina parker

 

"LOVINGLY PREPARED BY" - THE DOCUMENTARY + THE BLUEPRINT

In 2024, Feed Durham NC will release "Lovingly Prepared by," a documentary accompanied by an organizing blueprint, with the hope that other communities will customize what we're doing for their neighborhoods or share information with us about helpful hunger interventions. We've already begun consulting with other communities on no-contact cookouts and have had peers travel in from Richmond, Baltimore, Charlotte, Atlanta and Chicago to study with us while we cook and make plans to disrupt food insecurity in our neighborhoods.

photo by katina parker

FOOD ETHICS + QUALITY 

We are committed to providing organic and/or natural foods - no hormones, antibiotics, cages or pesticides. Most produce and meat are sourced from local farms. All foods are dairy-free, with the exception of butter, which is added to some vegetable dishes. All foods are prepared gluten-free, with the exception of hot dog buns or other bread donations (which are optional and never come into contact with your food at the Cook Site). All foods are nut-free. Coconut oil and soy may be used as ingredients for some foods. None of the food Feed Durham prepares comes from a can.

photo by katina Parker

CURRENT COVID PROTOCOL

Hunger is on the rise. COVID spread is on the rise, yet again. We work with folks who are extremely vulnerable and need to insure that our offering of food is COVID-free and meets food cleanliness standards. Even if vaccinated, especially if you plan to prep veggies or cook, all volunteers are asked to get a (free) COVID test from a local provider or your personal care provider.

After being tested, wear masks in indoor public spaces until the end of your final volunteer shift, limit your time in public spaces like grocery stores or inside homes with family/friends who aren’t quarantining.

If you can guarantee that you have very limited risk of COVID exposure, you don't have to get tested - you live alone or you live with other adults who work from home or in work environments that offer lots of social distancing (ex., outside on a farm).

For those who can’t quarantine or have COVID exposure risk, our available volunteer opportunities include: Remote Volunteering (online research, food pick-ups and drop-offs, community engagement, organizing work), Street Team Flyer Distro (get those steps in!), fundraising among your circles of influence, Equipment Pick-Up and Return, Writing Love Notes to go out with food, Cookout set-up and breakdown.

 

Before any in-person shift, you will also be asked standard COVID screening questions about any potential exposure.

VOLUNTEER ENVIRONMENT + SAFETY

While we work, we listen to GREAT music. All food is prepped and cooked outside in an open-air environment on an acre of land. Most of the cooking happens on a 20' x 20’ carport and in surrounding areas. We have tents and tarps to protect against rain and sun, spaced at least 10 feet apart. We have patio heaters to help us stay warm. We wear masks and food prep gloves at all times. There are hand-washing stations, which you must use after using the restroom or eating, and before you put on your food prep gloves. There are bottles filled with vinegar water at each of the stations. We disinfect hourly. We lovingly remind one another to change gloves before handling food. If preparing food or handling food containers, volunteers have to change their gloves every time they touch any part of their bodies or clothes, someone else’s body or any object (cell phones, cars, wallets, etc.)

Families and roommates can volunteer together. Children as young as 5 years old can volunteer and must be supervised by a parent or guardian at all times. To keep everyone safe, we can only host children who listen and follow directions well.

Feed Durham provides cut gloves and other safety devices to prevent injury. We expect all volunteers to take care of themselves by exercising caution, sound judgement, and common sense. Neither Feed Durham, Feed Durham Founder and Cook Site Host Katina Parker, or any of your fellow volunteers are responsible for injuries sustained while volunteering - bruises, cuts, sprains, etc.

Due to COVID, volunteers can bring home-cooked meals and drinks to consume while they work, but cannot offer it to other volunteers.

For cold weather cooking, we recommend wearing waterproof boots, wool socks, and lots of layers with sleeves that can be rolled up.

To volunteer email feeddurhamnc-at-gmail.com