One Civic Act

I read an update this morning on the Somerville Cares Fund , the pandemic relief fund to help the most vulnerable in the city. I donated to the fund back in April. Spoiler alert: “In brief, ongoing need remains extremely high.” Today, I made another donation to the fund.

Today, I made a donation to the Make-a-Wish Foundation. It was actually a benefit for ordering a card through Emma’s Custom Card shop on Etsy.

Basil Tree Catering is an amazing local company that has been“catering with a conscience” for 32 years. I led a discussion with the founder for Conscious Capitalism Boston almost exactly a year ago. And Community Cooks is an awesome nonprofit that arranges for volunteers to cook meals (at home) for distribution to domestic violence shelters and other organizations. I was one of those volunteers in 2017 and 2018. So when I heard that Basil Tree Catering was working during the coronavirus lockdown to prepare meals for Community Cooks, I was blown away. Today, I made a donation to their joint initiative .

Union Square Main Streets is an amazing advocate for the emerging Union Square neighborhood of Somerville. It’s a great community, one that needs support through the coronavirus crisis. Today, I made a donation to Union Square Main Streets, for its participation in Grassroots Relief for Main Streets .

Somerville-based Welcome Project is the primary means by which the city’s immigrant population can participate in and shape community decisions. It’s a critical support for a significant portion of the City’s populace — a community that is struggling through the coronavirus. Today, I donated to the Welcome Project for its Immigrant Assistance Fund .

In many parts of the world, the spoken word is the most effective means of communicating. That’s why Amplio’s Talking Book device , a very simple voice recorder, is so important. It enables governments and global development organizations to share knowledge with the world’s hardest to reach communities. And it’s so important to reach those communities now with essential information on the coronavirus and how to stay safe. Today, I made a donation to Amplio (which used to be called Literacy Bridge).

I’ve made a donation to, and connected with, the Mutual Aid Medford and Somerville (MAMAS) group . Today, I made another donation, in response to a fundraising campaign .

I recently connected with the Mutual Aid Medford and Somerville (MAMAS) group. Today, the new captain of our neighborhood pod reached and I connected with him. He’ll hopefully connect with a core group of neighbors so we can stay in touch and support one another. I also made a donation to MAMAS, to go toward a community member in need.

Today, I made a donation to the Somerville Cares COVID-19 Fund . The fund will provide emergency funding to Somerville residents and Somerville workers, regardless of immigration status, to help cover basic needs including, but not limited to, food, medications, rent, utilities, childcare, and other basic necessities. It’s hosted by the United Way and administered by the Community Action Agency of Somerville (CAAS).

Today, I joined the newsletter for the Mutual Aid Medford and Somerville (MAMAS) group. This is a very sophisticated group of community members who have organized to provide assistance to people in need across Medford and Somerville. Frankly, I would have joined long ago, but my new job has me too busy to put a lot of daytime hours into this. And now they’ve grown so sophisticated, that’s hard to follow how to get involved. Hopefully, the newsletter will simplify matters for me, because I need to help in some way.

Protective equipment for health care professionals is in high demand right now. One effort to fill that gap is being led by a Dark Monk, a Charlestown shop that has retooled its manufacturing business to produce face shields and donate them to Massachusetts hospitals. Today, I donated to Dark Monk’s effort to produce 4,000 or more face shields.

As the coronavirus forces a shutdown of the U.S. economy, many large corporations have vowed to keep paying workers , rather than laying them off. One exception so far is Harvard University, whose endowment was last valued around $40 billion. Last week, Harvard announced that it was laying off dining services workers. Today, I signed a petition asking Harvard to reserve that decision . https://twitter.com/piper_winks/status/1241809169948258305

Grocery workers — and actually the entire food supply chain — are among the most vital workers in enabling a Covid-19 response that asks residents to stay at home as much as possible. Many of them are not adequately protected by their employers, however. Today, I signed a petition asking for grocery stores to, among other things, allow their workers to wear masks and gloves while at work to reduce the chances of community transmission that would shut down our food system.

The state is about to go on lockdown, due to the Covid-19 crisis. Small retailers and independent restaurants will be the ones most hurt, yet they also make the character of our neighborhoods real. Today, I bought gift certificates from local businesses, in an effort to infuse a little cash into their balance sheets and help them survive the pandemic in some small way.

Covid-19 continues to spread and our public health system still has the worst ahead of itself. We’ll be able to able to manage if we can “flatten the curve” — that is to say, delay the worst onset of the crisis until treatment capacity can respond. Today, I signed a petition calling for the State to shut down restaurants, bars and non-essential businesses, to ensure that social distancing is mandated.

There’s been quite a discussion on the Buy Nothing Somerville forum about how we should respond to Covid-19. There are legitimate concerns about transmission risk in exchanges. And there are potential benefits to help people who will be financially and logistically stretched by the pandemic. Today, I listened to Buy Nothing members, consulted with other Buy Nothing admins around the world, and wrote an announcement to the Buy Nothing Somerville community. We won’t be shutting down but we are asking everyone to be very diligent.

Planned Parenthood lost its federal support this year. The organization is too important for its broad network providing primary care for women across the country, not to mention its support for reproductive rights. Today, I made a donation to Planned Parenthood.

A friend’s daughter was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes when she was three years old. Today, I donated to a fundraiser that she launched , at just seven years old, for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) .

Today, I donated blood to the American Red Cross . I’m paying the price, however, as I’m experiencing some nerve irritation. Let’s hope it calms down soon.

Last week, I took action to support more common sense gun regulation nationwide. Today, I took more action. I signed a petition asking Visa to use it’s sophisticated transaction to identify and report erratic gun and ammo purchases to law enforcement. I also signed two petitions asking Wal-Mart to halt gun sales. ( They halted video game sales, instead? )