Food Justice: Fighting Food Insecurity in Caribbean Neighborhoods
Location: Parkside Plaza - Ocean Ave & Parkside Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11226
Dates: Third Saturday of every month, starting at 11 am.
In 2020, the Caribbean Equality Project launched its bi-monthly Food and Essentials pantry service in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City. Caribbean-centric neighborhoods across New York City are disproportionately impacted by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and its economic crises- many of whom are Afro- and Indo-Caribbean, South Asian, and Latinx families, including LGBTQ+ immigrants and asylum seekers. The pandemic’s state-ordered shelter-in-place quarantine contributed to mass unemployment, which affected the most marginalized members of our community and contributed to an exacerbation of unprecedented food insecurity.
For the past four years, our partnership with The Campaign Against Hunger allowed Caribbean Equality Project to serve over 81,000+ low-income and undocumented LGBTQ+ people, immigrant families, seniors, single-parent households, and HIV-impacted people through the organization's food justice program. Collectively with our community partners and elected officials, we distributed culturally-responsive groceries, fresh produce, PPE, toiletries, period products, safe sex kits, and coats and toys, especially during the Thanksgiving, Diwali, Christmas, and Kwanzaa holidays. To date, we have organized over 45+ hyper-local pop-up pantries in Richmond Hill, Queens, Flatbush, Brooklyn, and Soundview, in The Bronx, serving an average of 350-450 families by creating an invaluable community resource fair to access culturally-responsive nutritious food, conduct on-site COVID-19 testing and making vaccine appointments, distribute Mpox information, voter registration, providing access to health insurance, support tenants experiencing illegal eviction, and share life-saving information for survivors of domestic and intimate partner violence. From distributing culturally congruent groceries and oral hygiene products to providing cash assistance to documented and undocumented Caribbean LGBTQ+ immigrants, our volunteer-led organization has been on the frontline responding to the food insecurity and financial crisis disproportionately impacting Black and Brown immigrant communities as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
In the past four years, the Caribbean Equality Project’s food justice work continued as a hyper-local Tri-Borough Holiday Food and Essentials Distribution series in Caribbean neighborhoods in Queens, Brooklyn, and The Bronx.
In 2024, we will continue to love and protect our most vulnerable community members through our Food Justice program. Please support our work by becoming a volunteer or making a donation to sustain our food pantries.
2020, 2021, and 2022 Food and Essentials Distribution Series
COVID-19 Relief and Resilience Food Justice Program Impact (2020, 2021, & 2022 YTD):
30+ Food and Essentials Food Distributions organized in Queens, Brooklyn, and The Bronx
54,000+ People Served with Culturally-Responsive Groceries and Fresh Produce
101,000+ Masks Distributed
11,950+ Hand Sanitizers Distributed
10,500+ Safe Sex Packages Distributed
8,550+ Period Products Distributed
2,900+ Oral Hygiene Care Packages Distributed
The Caribbean Equality Project's advocacy and community organizing are primarily volunteer-led, with a focus on community building and education, facilitation of pro-bono legal representation for Caribbean LGBTQ+ asylum seekers, culturally competent mental health resources, visibility at city-wide pride parades and cultural festivals, and empowering LGBTQ+ Caribbean diasporic community through storytelling and resource sharing.
