Community Donations on Hold for the Summer

For years now, the Food For Thought Books Collective has had an expressed commitment to supporting community efforts through monetary and in-kind donations. Over the course of the past year, our donations program supported many community efforts that work to expand access to social services and promote social justice including the Youth Action Coalition, Sunderland Public Library & PTO, the Prison Birth Project, Prison Book Project, the South Amherst Conservation Association, the Justice for Jason Legal Defense Fund, and Grace House.

Our commitment to supporting social justice organizations that are making a positive impact in our community extends beyond our donations program. This past year, we began organizing events that Celebrate Resistance through music, poetry, and visual art, while raising hundreds of dollars for organizations such as Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) and the Palestine Israeli Education Project. We are also building sustainable collaborative relationships with several social justice organizations in our community such as the Prison Birth Project, Fertile Ground Schools, and the Women of Color Leadership Network—offering them space for meetings and events, and promoting their work in our window, event calendar and website.

The recent recession, however, has not left us unaffected. Like many, we are finding it necessary to tighten our belt a notch or two in the hopes of offsetting the last several months of slow and declining sales. As a result, we have decided to put a hold on all our donations until the end of August, while we assess the state of our finances, evaluate the most effective way to support our community, and begin developing a plan for sustaining Food For Thought Books well into the future.

We appreciate your patience and understanding in this situation. We are confident that we will make it through this rough patch and look forward to working with our community to building a just and sustainable economy that ensures prosperity for all.