Tag Archives: community support

Five Facts, Local

Hobby Lobby says humbug to homeless outreach during heatwave

[Mount Vernon, Wash.] – Matt Uyeno set up to distribute water and cooling towels in a Dollar Tree parking lot with permission, but the Hobby Lobby next door called police and reported he was setting up a camp on their property.

Five Fast Facts

  • Uyeno originally set up near the Safeway gas station on College Way on Friday, but was asked to move so he relocated across the street on East College Way to the Dollar Tree, where the manager gave permission for his activities
  • The manager of Dollar Tree confirmed that permission was given to KIRO 7 News
  • On Saturday, Uyeno returned with coolers of cold water and cooling towels, and the Mount Vernon Police Department said Hobby Lobby called and claimed that people were “setting up a camp on the business property”
  • No one from Hobby Lobby ever spoke to Uyeno, but the police insisted he had crossed a few feet onto Hobby Lobby property; he was trespassed and barred from the property for one year
  • Uyeno, undeterred, moved further into the Dollar Tree parking lot and continued his assistance until 10 p.m., even ordering 17 large pizzas for the unhomed and the Dollar Tree employees

An independent community activist organizer says he was trespassed by the Hobby Lobby in Mount Vernon as he gave water to the homeless in 90-degree heat on Saturday.

Matt Uyeno told KIRO 7 News that the…pandemic has [sic] fueled an escalating homeless situation in Mount Vernon, which has been especially dire in Skagit Valley…

You can read more at KIRO7 News.

BIPOC, Editorial, Health and Lifestyle, LGBTQIA, Local, National, Weather

Malcontentment Happy Hour: February 8, 2021

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Our live webcast from the Seattle Anarchist Jurisdiction

The show from February 8, 2021, featured David Obelcz and our co-host Jennifer Smith.

  • Winter weather is coming and King County has told local communities not to open warming centers
  • Find a COVID Shot WA at www.findacovidshot.org is helping Washington seniors and BIPOC communities get on vaccination lists
  • Malcontented Minutes – our new speed round of news
    • Michigan man killed by baby shower cannon explosion
    • Amanda Gorman becomes the first poet to open a Super Bowl game
    • Black-owned eTailers are creating a one-stop-stop for BIPOC founded beauty products
    • Seattle based Magistrate Judge releases Ethan Nordean – US District Judge says not so fast
    • Queer artists of color are dominating 2021 LGBTQIA art exhibitions
    • Fiona the Cincinnati Zoo hippo turns 4-years old
    • Ten-years old BIPOC Bellevue girl builds a website to share positive COVID news
    • Virginia and Nebraska push to advance bills striking unenforceable gay marriage bans from state constitutions
    • The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Subversion & the Art of Slavery Abolition
    • Florida man in Florida stadium runs onto the field during the Super Bowl
  • Black History Month
  • Bothell protest car attack goes unpunished

BIPOC, National

Malcontent News gets rare look behind the barricades at Red House on Mississippi

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From Malcontentment Happy Hour, December 14, 2020

Activists take down the outer barricades on Sunday as tension with Portland officials eases

With a successful GoFundMe completed, the city admitting they were wrong, and tensions in decline, activists removed the outer barricades around Red House on Mississippi on Sunday. Malcontent News cameras were given a rare behind the barricades look, with permission.

BIPOC, Local

The Ally League creates Black Box to support local Black-owned businesses

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Kesha Rodgers started The Ally League with her friend Sara So to help promote and support Black businesses and dismantle systemic racism. The events of 2020, including the resurgent Black Lives Matter movement and the disproportionate impact of COVID on the BIPOC community, created opportunity and hardship. As working moms, Rodgers and So realized that people wanted to support the Black community but didn’t have the time or resources to engage actively. The mission of The Ally League is to promote and support Black-owned businesses while enabling allies to learn about the available products.

kesha rodgers and sara so interview

“We wanted to move people from performative things like changing your square black on Instagram,” said Rodgers. “What are things that can actively and meaningfully make a difference? [Things] that will engage people who are less likely, and maybe unable to protest so that anyone can be actively anti-racist.”  

“We had so many ideas on how to help,” Rodgers continued, “but the fact that so many businesses are failing, a lot of it has to do with exposure. There is an assumption that if a product has a Black person on the front of it, it is only for Black people. There are so many products that if they were in someone’s hands, they would buy them over and over again.“

On November 29, The Ally League launched Black Box, two different priced boxes filled with products created by Black-owned businesses. Some featured items include Hunni Water, sparkling water infused with honey, AH Lip & Body Butter skincare products, Sukie’s Candles, and Boon Boona Coffee sourced from Africa. All boxes come with a “compassionist” key chain, so allies are reminded to be compassionate and open-minded. “We really want people to put the compassionist mindset front and center,” said So. 

You can place your order for a $25 Mini Black Box or a $75 Premier Black Box at The Ally League. Although supplies are limited, So indicated they would do a second run in early 2021. As an additional service that supports the Black community, The Ally League can create custom and co-branded boxes with items from Black-owned companies for corporate giving and events. 

Local

Kirkland resident raises $4000 for struggling restaurants and feeds families in need

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Angela Rozmyn believes in taking action whenever she sees a community in need. As part of the Planning Commission for Kirkland, she is acutely aware of the challenges that businesses and families are facing due to the pandemic. Inspired by a program the city of Palmdale, California implemented, she decided to donate a single gift card to a local restaurant and a family in need. In less than 24 hours, her simple gesture generated an outpouring of support.

When Rozmyn isn’t blogging, working, serving on the Planning Commission, or with her family, she is an administrator for the Eastside Restaurant Support (Kirkland, Redmond, Bellevue, and Surrounding) Facebook group. “I would see comments in the support group of I would love to go to this restaurant, but money is tight,” she explained. “A city in California was doing a thing where you take a picture of your takeout, and you could win a $25 gift card. So I thought, I’m just going to give away a $50 gift card to help a local restaurant and people struggling in the community.”

That simple gesture quickly grew into something bigger. Within an hour, 20 people had jumped in, making the same offer. “When I saw the responses, I thought, wow, maybe we can cover everyone who needs a gift card.” In 24 hours, $4000 flowed in. It would be enough to support 80 families while keeping that money in the local business community. “We were able to provide a gift card to every family that asked.” It’s not over, as donations continue to come in with community members wanting to start a program for holiday season meals and a toy drive.

Restaurants across the United States have been hard hit due to restrictions to curb the spread of COVID. Across the country, dining-in restrictions, limited alcohol sales, and economic recession have hit the hospitality industry hard. Locally, a new ban on indoor dining due to a record-shattering increase in COVID infections came just as seasonal rains arrived, making outdoor seating a challenge. At the same time, support organizations like food banks and homelessness prevention services have been overwhelmed with the number of people in need.

When asked, Rozmyn explained how her small gesture broke through giving fatigue. “What made this so successful is people were already in a group to support local restaurants. So their heads are already in a space to support our struggling eateries.”

Families get to decide what restaurant they want to support. Supported businesses aren’t limited to the eastside, with a few requests for restaurants in the south sound and one in West Seattle. 

People have continued to donate, inspiring a coming second round of restaurant support. If you would like to help, you can Venmo @Angela-Rozmyn with the comment, Eastside Restaurant Support.

Michelle Janson contributed to this story.