1/1/2024 0 Comments Mediacenter store![]() With hundreds of small donations from working people, Sacks said the support from the community is emblematic of this love.MediaCenter - Electronics Store WooCommerce Theme Now as the CMC struggles financially, they have raised thousands of dollars in donations from those in Gainesville and out. “Without the CMC, I think that there would be a lot of community love that would be lost,” they said. Even though there are only a few community and DIY spaces in Florida like the CMC and radical spaces are dying out, Sacks said, they are important, especially to Gainesville. “And that is because of this oppressive white supremacist, patriarchal system that we're in, that favors profit over people and favors greed.”įor these members and the CMC, every day is an act of resistance, Sacks said. “It comes to the question: Why doesn't everyone have access to the food that they want to have and fresh food? Why can't everyone be nourished?” they said. Ultimately, food insecurity derives from the unjust system, they said. ![]() After the CMC helped release an inmate, the inmate came to the Free Grocery Store and received food, Morales said.Īs queer and non-binary individuals, Arnold said that they cannot be free until everyone is free. For example, many volunteers support the Alachua County Bond Fund, aimed to pay the bonds of people in jail who can’t afford to pay them. According to another CMC organizer Manu Osorio, who runs the live music shows, the music is an extension of their activism.Įach organization intersects at the CMC. “We know how important it is to stick to each other and care for each other that's the only way we can uproot these systems that try to hold us down or define us.”Īnother thread that ties the volunteers together is participation in activist groups. It just happened naturally that way,” they said. “The vibe is definitely super gay, super queer and super radical. Many of the Free Grocery Store’s volunteers are queer and non-binary. “So I feel like when you bring in a space like the CMC that it promotes freedom of expression, and I guess not quite mainstream freedom of expression.” “In Gainesville, you have this big football culture, and you have this big punk culture, and the common factor between those two things is that they're very like masculine dominated and binary dominated,” they said. As a non-binary person, Goldstein can reveal their interior much easier at the CMC, they said. The book sections include Indigenous history, Black and African American history, as well as queer, gender and sexuality and women’s studies.Įliza Goldstein, a performer at the CMC, carries a similar sentiment and burden. The CMC is built on radical books that tell real histories not displayed in public libraries, Sacks said. “I know what it's like to be thankful for the food that you're getting, but also, pre-planning on how you're going to stretch it.” “I'll make sure that the bag feels heavy because I know what it's like to receive the food,” he said. Growing up with food stamps and donations, he can relate to those the CMC is helping. Morales recalls scraping at boxed flaky mashed potatoes from church donations over the holidays as a kid. These products are especially important because food stamps cannot pay for them and many families cannot afford them, volunteer Alfredo Morales said. Some families ask for toiletries like toilet paper, shampoo, body wash and deodorant. Through a Google Forms survey or by calling the CMC, families can request specific foods or items, and record their family size and address. Ready-to-eat food is distributed to families without access to kitchens. The produce includes vegetables, fruit and dry food. Once volunteers gather the produce from the locations, they pack it into plastic bags. Volunteers purchase produce with money raised from a CMC fundraiser through the Alachua County Labor Coalition’s action network, Arnold said. GNV Herbal Aid also supplies herbal supplements. In addition to grocery stores, Free Grocery Store obtains food from local farms like Siembra Farm and Rainbow Produce along with local bakeries. Now, they donate over 350 bags a week, organizer Em Arnold said. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Free Grocery Store donated 30 to 50 bags of food to families in a week.
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