CONNECTING OUR VIP PARTNERS
On Wednesday, September 6th, our Community Food Resource Coordinator, Gavein Perez-Canto, met with our Victory in Partnership Members Ant and Kevin from Homies Helping Homies and Rob and Barb from West Chester Food Cupboard.
Homies Helping Homies began in the midst of the pandemic, distributing PPE and food, and other resources to their neighbors in Point Breeze. As a grassroots organization, Homies Helping Homies has mostly operated out of Ant’s home, doing as much as they could with few resources. Through determination and a deep care and understanding of their community’s needs, Ant and Kevin have built Homies Helping Homies into a thriving distribution program, recently acquiring a space for food storage. Their plan, however, is to continue growing, eventually opening a storefront to operate a free grocery store.
In order to learn more about starting and managing such an operation, we connected Homies Helping Homies with VIP members Rob and Barb and met with them all at the West Chester Food Cupboard. The West Chester Food Cupboard started in 2009, eventually moving into the space they have now in 2017. They are a 100% volunteer run organization that offers a client choice, shopping-like experience to their guests. Their program is robust and offers a dignified and comfortable experience to shoppers.
Rob and Barb shared their experiences and practices, answered questions, and took us around their facility. It was a really fruitful meeting that we hope served both programs.
"What I love most about the Victory in Partnership program is connecting hunger-fighting organizations. They are experts and offer a wealth of knowledge and experience to each other. Seeing their facilities, learning about their programs, and hearing about their impact on and commitment to their communities is always inspiring."
- Gavin Perez-Canto, Coalition Against Hunger's Community Food Resource Coordinator
