In these unprecedented times, millions of us find ourselves working from our kitchen tables. We have been told to socially isolate to protect the most vulnerable in our communities. At #OURKITCHENTABLE we know that stopping the virus doesn’t take social isolation – it takes physical isolation. Social isolation is the last thing we want – in living memory there has never been a time where social contact has been more important. The COVID-19 pandemic poses problems that we cannot solve by ourselves, but when we band together around the kitchen table, we unleash our individual and community abundance to address the unprecedented global crisis we are now facing.
COVID-19 has reignited community from behind our computer screens. We have banded together to organize lifesaving support to those no longer able to leave their homes, whether that be a trip to the grocery story, or a daily check-in with the most isolated. We are a global community united at our kitchen tables. Whilst we can’t control COVID or its effects on us as individuals, families, communities and nations, we can control how we show up to face the problem. Crisis poses us with a simple choice – to isolate and hoard resources, or to band together to protect one another.
The founding members of #OURKITCHENTABLE have been working with LGBTIQ+ refugees and asylum seekers in Kenya for the last year, addressing the high levels of poverty, abuse and violence that the community face. We know that the poverty they are experiencing means they can’t follow government advice to prevent transmission within the community. Soap and hand sanitiser are simply too expensive, and there is no option other than leaving the house when you don’t have savings or fixed income to buy food. Sharing a room with five others renders self-isolation impossible.
We know it’s only a matter of time before transmission into the community happens. We’re against the clock, and we need to band together, from our kitchen tables to help this community prepare.
We need to raise $100,000 in the next month. Your donation will cover:
-Rental assistance for 6 months, helping LGBTIQ refugees avoid homelessness.
-Food assistance for 6 months, providing nutritious food to strengthen immune systems.
-Medical assistance for 6 months, ensuring that medications and assistance are accessible.
-Quarantine materials, helping the community build makeshift quarantine areas within their safe houses to reduce inter-house transmission.
-Wellness packs for the community, sparking light and joy in these scary times.
#OURKITCHENTABLE is a campaign from Alight (www.wearealight.org)