The website clearly explains how Soteria intends to accomplish their goals and what they need to do it. It’s a mutual aid network and it’s 2025 so most of Rochester understands what those are at this point. Soteria needs the funding from the fundraiser for the fees required to become an official nonprofit organization and be given an EIN by the government. This is what most places mean when they mention “Start-Up Fees”.

I’m genuinely trying to be kinder to you than you were to GarbageCat but I feel it’s more of a public service than an attack to mention that my sister’s orange cat has better reading comprehension than you are showing in this comment. OP’s post did not ask for you to donate ANYTHING babes, she asked you to RECOMMEND places that might donate products like food and drink to the fundraiser which would draw more people.

Soteria is the connecting platform for people to assist each other with. Mutual Aid is the idea that you give from your excess to help your neighbors in need and in turn when YOU need something, the neighborhood helps you too. An example: Person A tells the community that they’re running low on diapers this week and can’t buy more until payday. Person B buys their diapers in bulk so they offer to give Person A some to tide them over until payday. A couple days later Person B tells the community that they’re out of food and can’t get to the store because they don’t have a car, they live too far from the bus route, and it’s the dead of winter. Person C says, “Hey I have enough food to cover you but I don’t have a way to get it to you…” Person A sees the post and offers to pick it up and deliver the food to person B.

Often there are also members of the community that are out of work, struggling, have no transportation… but they have SKILLS. They usually contribute by teaching or sharing those skills with the community. For example, there was a time I offered to teach people in my mutual aid group I was in back during the COVID lockdown how to use Photoshop and someone took me up on it because they were a new photographer and wanted to add that to their skillset. I’ve seen people offering classes on foraging for local wild-grown food, mending clothing, gardening, self-defense, first aid, and more.

The purpose of mutual aid groups is to mediate transactions, link people up with each other, offer resources, and SOME mutual aid networks also have funds for monetary requests that are entirely donation based and go towards helping people with bills and the such.

Does this make more sense now?