When we first started brainstorming how we could distribute food by bikes, processing how we would physically make it happen felt like an eternity. We were about a month and a half into the pandemic, and sitting still at home felt both wrong and the only choice we had. From arranging zoom meetings to figuring out program design to posting on social media to recruit volunteers - it took about a month from an idea to go to an actual plan with people involved.
That rush seems unnecessary in retrospect. Though, to be fair, we had no idea that this pandemic would affect our daily lives for over a year. And a year later, volunteers are still showing up to distribute food to those in need in Baltimore. This need didn’t arise because of COVID-19, although it became much more prevalent as folks lost stable employment and safe access to grocery stores and restaurants, being pandemic hotspots.
Part of that need was transportation. MTA ridership in Baltimore dropped 60%, the remaining 40% were essential workers that needed to board buses, subways, trains to get to work and other services. But many folks, especially older adults who were particularly susceptible to COVID, were caught at home without a safe way to get to essential services. The majority of the deliveries went to them.
While we were still coming up with strategies of how to make food distribution by bike work, we were concerned about a factor we had no control over at all: how many people would show up to volunteer. But on the first day of distributing food at Civic Works’ Real Food Farms, we met over twenty volunteers during rain and a thunderstorm. For weeks afterwards, at least fifteen people came each week, taking more bags and deliveries than anyone had expected from people on bikes.
We’re grateful for every volunteer that showed up, even just to deliver food once. Thank you for your generosity of time and spirit during a pandemic that was difficult for everyone. We are grateful for our partners that continue to work on distributing necessary resources throughout the city. Please continue to support them how you can - showing up to volunteer in other capacities or donating funds to keep their work going.
In the past year since May 2020, 68 volunteers have delivered 870 grocery boxes and bags and 1600 meals.
If you’d like to get connected with one of our food distribution partners (Bmore Community Food, Civic Works, the Franciscan Center, No Boundaries Coalition, and United Workers) to support them on deliveries, get in touch with us at clarissa@bikemore.net and we will connect you.