About the Groceries + Delivery Working Group
Food Security
Food security is a huge, ongoing problem in Massachusetts: over 100k more households are on SNAP assistance than before the pandemic. Benefits are difficult to access, don’t cover essentials like diapers, and are in constant danger of being cut even further.
Food is a basic necessity for everyone, one of many that our capitalist system has failed to provide for many. MAMAS organize and work collectively as a community to meet those needs, modeling as best we can the better world that is not only possible but necessary.
The MAMAS Groceries and Deliveries working group supports food security within Medford and Somerville. We deliver groceries or grocery cards to anyone who needs them, without means-testing or judgment.
🤲 To join the Groceries and Deliveries working group, email askyourmamas@gmail.com with the subject line “Groceries and Deliveries Working Group help.”
OUR PROJECTS
Supermarket Sweep
Sweep is a recurring event where we deliver direct grocery aid to our neighbors in Medford and Somerville, with no means-testing or judgment. Mutual aid is more fun together: we usually gather at Stop & Shop and hand out grocery cards (and sometimes grocery lists) to deliver.
If you would like to participate by delivering gift cards, email askyourmamas@gmail.com and mention “Supermarket Sweeps”.
Pairing
We pair MAMAS deliverers with neighbors to deliver groceries and grocery gift cards. MAMAS pairing currently supports around 60 households in Medford and Somerville. People who have paired find this to be a gratifying aspect of mutual aid, with new relationships and friendships they would not have made otherwise!
To be a pair you only need to commit to making reliable deliveries of groceries or grocery cards, and be willing to help MAMAS grow our mutual aid project. You can set your own schedule for deliveries, and MAMAS will reimburse you monthly for grocery or monetary assistance you give to your pair, based on the size of the pair’s household. If you have the means and would like to contribute your own money toward your pairing, that is great too!
If you know a household that is looking to receive support from MAMAS, please have them text the hotline at (339) 545–1315 in English, Spanish, Portuguese or Haitian Creole.
WORKING GROUP RESOURCES
Deliveries/Pairing Phrase Bank for coordinating grocery requests in Spanish, Portuguese, and Haitian Creole.
Frequently Asked Questions about Pairing
More resources
Get involved with the Grocery Team!
Slack channels: #wg-delivery
Next steps to get involved:
- Donate to MAMAS! We’re looking to raise more money to clear our grocery assistance wait list. If you’re able to provide recurring, monthly assistance to a neighbor, check out the link below!Â
- Become a Grocery Pair! Support a neighbor and build community by delivering a gift card or groceries to a paired household each month. Many grocery pairs are fully reimbursed by MAMAS, while others are sponsored by the delivery person (usually $100–$300/mo). If you’re interested in becoming or self-funding a pair, let us know!
- Participate in the next Supermarket Sweep Day! We meet up and distribute $5,000+ in grocery giftcards to households that requested support. Signups for Sweeps are one-time, rather than recurring commitments. More info about Sweeps is here.
- Look out for opportunities to deliver giftcards + other resources to neighbors! They’re posted in the slack channel (above) as they arise.
Events:
- [In-person] Next Supermarket Sweep: February, date TBD.
- Although Sweeps are happening monthly, participation for one-off volunteers will likely be offered roughly every other month.
Grocery team meetings:
- [Virtual] Coordinators Meetings: weekly on Thursday evenings. If you’re not already a coordinator, check in via email/slack with questions.