Reem's Fruitvale Worker Relief Fund

UPDATE as of  4/3/2020

From the bottom of our hearts, we'd like to thank everyone who has supported us in keeping our humble oakland restaurant operation a force in our community. Today will be our Fruitvale location's last day open to the public for the foreseeable future.

After much reflection and conversation, we have decided that it is no longer viable or desirable to try to sustain our current model in an economic system that will never allow us to live out our values. Instead we want to use this time as an opportunity to be more radical--to act from a place of love, not fear and panic. The scrambling for dollars just to keep us "in the game" is a distraction from the more important work we must do. That is to take care of our own in the absence of government and confront power to demand change. We need healthcare for all, regardless of employment. We need human rights for all, regardless of status. We need a society with no walls and no cages. And we need redistribution of wealth immediately.

We have no desire for the food industry to return to the way it was. When we rebuild it we must ensure we do so equitably, centering those who have been hurt the most by its exploitation.

So what does this mean for Reem's Fruitvale? In the next few months we will turn our space into a commissary kitchen providing hundreds of meals a day to those most vulnerable in this pandemic.
We will be able to keep our employees safe and supported through this crisis, envisioning a new path forward together.

As a first step, Fruitvale workers have organized a more ongoing effort to get support in the midst of uncertainty in this new transition period.  Please spread the word and help our workers get the support they deserve and need in these challenging times. 

Link to Fruitvale Workers Hardship Fund 

We hope that in this time as the community supports our workers and their families to be healthy and safe, we can fight to transition into a more just economy and move towards a model that is more sustainable than the one we reject today.

Thank you all again!!
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Dear Community,

Thank you all for the support you've given us. We are changing the purpose of this fundraiser to be emergency relief for our staff at our Fruitvale location to help cover their wages during our closure. See update for more info. .....

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Dear Community,

As most of you know, Reem's has been a community-driven project from its very beginning. We opened our first brick & mortar in 2017 on a prayer and a shoestring budget and survived a very tumultuous year thanks to the support of our community. When we launched Reem's, we had to put some elements of our dream vision on the back burner but now we're ready to bring those dreams to life! We're calling on our community to help us give our space the upgrade it deserves. Like most small businesses in the Bay Area, we're doing all we can to make ends meet, but it's difficult to generate the income we need to bring our big dreams to life. As a values-based business that chooses to prioritize investing in our staff, it's difficult to save money to fund these upgrades, though we know that making this investment will help our business thrive in the long run. With your help, we will invest in new seating and decor for our space (no more wobbly tables!) in order to maximize capacity and provide a cozy environment for breaking bread and building community. During these cold, wet winter months, maximizing our indoor seating will allow for us to host more people who want to eat at Reem's.  We're ecstatic to partner with GUILD , an Oakland-based, black-owned crafts & manufacturing collective to build custom pieces for our restaurant, including a cedar wood banquette and traditional woven baskets to add warmth and coziness to our space. We were also fortunate to get the support of FJI design, owned by a fierce Palestinian woman, Dala Al-Fuwaires who wanted to support another Palestinian woman. It gives us hope that we all collectively have the power and resources to build our own spaces -- ones that center community, justice, and self-determination. We've been reflecting a lot on this as we figure out how to survive as a business in this economy without taking investments that don't align with our vision and values.  Reem's vision is to be an anchor in Fruitvale by building strong, resilient community through good jobs, nourishing food, and sanctuary space. Help us ring in the New Year by investing in that vision.  With warmth and gratitude,  The Reem's Team