Chinatown Cares Grocery Delivery Program

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In March 2020, due to increasing concerns around the potential for community transmission of COVID-19 and rapid changing food access in the neighbourhood (grocery stores and restaurants closing or operating with limited hours due to the pandemic), the Chinatown Cares project was developed as an emergency response program to ensure access to affordable, fresh, culturally appropriate groceries for isolated Chinese-speaking seniors. 

The need for such a program was assessed at a community level, and builds on food justice, racial equity, and mutual aid frameworks, among many others. This program aims to provide a test bed for long-term sustainable operations that are scalable and adaptive to community needs, foregrounding dignified access and community appropriateness. 

As the Chinatown Cares project operates alongside the official Provincial Government reopening of non-essential retail and services, there is a need to recognize that prioritizing economic recovery does not necessarily align with the pace of community recovery and individual health, particularly for those communities who face additional challenges and barriers around mobility and access, as well as increased risk factors during a global pandemic. 

Further learnings and reflections on our experiences building and operating the program can be found in the Grocery Delivery Program – Project Documentation / Resource Guide, prepared June 2020 by Project Manager Christina Lee.

We are grateful for the support of many organizations and individuals within our community for their contributions to the development of this project.

September 2021 Update: 

As of September 2021, the full operations of the Chinatown Cares Grocery Program have been transitioned over to Yarrow Intergenerational Society for Justice, in partnership with the S.U.C.C.E.S.S. Safe Seniors, Strong Communities initiative. It has been a wonderful experience to work with all of our collaborators, and we are incredibly excited that the program will continue to provide uninterrupted services to elders in our community.

While the Chinatown Cares project began as an emergency response program, this transition to permanent programming is needed, and signals just how critical access to culturally appropriate foods is, in our discussions of food security and food justice advocacy. These are necessary as part of an entire supportive culturally appropriate environment, not only for seniors, but as a whole for distinct communities with diverse needs. 

Over 18 months of programming, we have:

  • delivered over 2,700 bags of fresh culturally appropriate produce to seniors in the neighbourhood;
  • distributed hundreds of handmade reusable masks donated by community members; and
  • provided seniors with translated health and safety pamphlets by C19 help.ca in Traditional and Simplified Chinese

For full transparency of crowd-sourced funds, we have uploaded high-level closing financials here.

We are so grateful for the contributions of our community members, through donations, advice, and time, for supporting the buildout of this program. We could not have done this without you! 

For future updates on the program, keep an eye out on @yarrowsociety’s socials.

Project Collaborators:

Contributors:

Many thanks to the 400+ community members who contributed to our GoFundMe campaign, and provided in-kind donations of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to our staff, volunteers, and seniors.

Media mentions:

Photo by Felicia Chang
Photo by Christina Lee
Photo by Felicia Chang
Photo by Christina Lee