Before the outbreak of COVID-19 and the shelter-in-place order last month, Make Oakland Better Now! was preparing for a busy and consequential year. We were fundraising and organizing future events on this year’s top issues like Oakland’s mid-cycle budget and a new ballot measure to strengthen the city’s Police Commission. But like many of you – our neighbors, local activists, advocates, and businesses – our lives and plans were disrupted.
Right now Oakland, as well cities across the country and all over the world, faces a major emergency. The community needs much more help, and our priorities need to change in response.
With this in mind, MOBN! has just donated to the Oakland Fund for Public Innovation, which operates The Oakland COVID-19 Relief Fund. This fund was launched recently by Mayor Schaaf and Councilmembers Kalb, Bas and McElhaney as an emergency fund to serve Oakland’s most vulnerable residents and first responders during the pandemic. Among other outreach efforts, it is partnering with The Alameda County Community Food Bank, SOS Meals on Wheels, Bay Area Community Services, Keep Oakland Housed, La Clinica, Oakland Public Education Fund and Working Solutions.
These are all entities playing a critical role in providing services we need right now. We strongly encourage Oaklanders to consider contributing to the Oakland Fund for Public Innovation as well or making contributions, whether in time or money, to its partnering organizations.
A few other local entities that can use our help: The Boys and Girls Club of Oakland; East Bay Feed ER, which works to feed the emergency department and the ICU of five East Bay hospitals two meals a day; and Steph and Ayeesha Curry’s non-profit Eat.Learn.Play, which focuses on childhood health and hunger and has been serving over 300,000 meals a week during this crisis.
Right now, the community needs us all. So for those of us who can, let’s pitch in!
