Our communities still need help. 

Spring is here, and though vaccines have been rolling out steadily, communities are still in need of relief. Your donations will allow us to feed a new group of families in collaboration with new community and restaurant partners. Our $75,000 goal will allow us to deliver a month's worth of groceries to 400 families from the Chinese Progressive Association (CPA) of Boston and VietAID.

Our goal is to reach our $75,000 crowdfunding goal by the end of April. The remaining $20,000 will help us delivery one month's worth of groceries to 110 families in partnership with VietAID.

Right now, we want to feed families from Boston's Chinese and Vietnamese communities while also providing relief to local restaurants. Learn more about the community organizations we are helping this month!

  • CPA serves the Chinese community in the greater Boston area, particularly low-income, working-class families in Chinatown. CPA empowers its members to improve their lives by fighting for affordable housing and worker justice. These communities have been deeply affected by the pandemic, facing rising anti-Asian racism, job loss, and poor working conditions. Food insecurity is on the rise in CPA’s base as families struggle to pay rent and bills. As CPA fights for long-term, systemic change, families have needs that must be met now

  • VietAID serves the Vietnamese community in Dorchester by administering a range of programming including child & youth services, economic development, housing development, cultural preservation, neighborhood revitalization, and community organizing

About Project Restore Us

At the beginning of the pandemic, Chef Tracy Chang of PAGU started Off Their Plate to feed the healthcare community amidst the first COVID-19 surge. Meanwhile, Tracy and Irene Li of Mei Mei prioritized public safety and shut down indoor dining. While restaurants have been suffering throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, food insecurity has also doubled. Realizing grocery delivery is a safe way for restaurants to make money while helping their community, Project Restore Us was born.

What we do

We partner with restaurants and community organizations to build resilience that can endure through and beyond moments of crisis. Restaurants obtain groceries at wholesale prices (lower than retail) and pay their workers to unload and pack culturally appropriate grocery boxes. We operate on grant and donor dollars, and our organizers and drivers are all volunteers.Our volunteers coordinate weekly home deliveries -- volunteer drivers pick up from partner restaurants and drop off at the doorsteps of community partner families.

Project Restore Us has delivered almost 475,000 pounds of food to about 6,700 essential worker households, restoring around 2,000 shift hours to restaurant workers.

So far, we have served working families in Somerville, Everett, Chelsea, East Boston, Chinatown, Jamaica Plain, Dorchester, Quincy, Malden and Revere.

Our partners

Our community partners include: UFCW Local 1445, La Comunidad, Inc., Cambridge Community Foundation, Cambridge Mutual Aid, Chinese Progressive Association, Solidarity Supply Distro, Eastie Farm, Asian American Resource Workshop, Boston Community Pediatrics, Friends of the Children - Boston, VietAID, and Project R.I.G.H.T. Inc.

Our restaurant partners include: PAGU, Mei Mei Boston, Mae Asian Eatery, Suya Joint, and Field & Vine.

FAQs

Q: Is this donation tax-deductible?

A: Yes! Project Restore Us is fiscally sponsored by Commonwealth Kitchen, 501(c)3. To claim this donation as a deduction on your US taxes, please keep the email receipt as your official record. Commonwealth Kitchen's EIN number is: 27-0648497.

Please contact us if you would like to make a matching donation.

Q: How does it work?

A: Local restaurants partner with community or labor organizations to safely deliver groceries to families in need. We rely on grants and donations to purchase groceries and pay restaurant workers a living wage. Through our fundraising structure, resources can be deployed rapidly, within a week.

Q: How is this different from a food bank or pantry?

A: Project Restore Us runs on three main principles. 

  1. Saving restaurants: Our restaurants have shut down indoor dining – sacrificing revenue for public health. Grocery delivery is a safe way for them to make money and survive through the pandemic.

  2. Efficient and familiar: Providing groceries is more efficient than prepared meals. Our chefs design grocery selections to be nutritious, long-lasting, and culturally appropriate. Families get to cook food how they want.

  3. Home delivery for all: During a pandemic, everyone should have access to home delivery. Our volunteer drivers provide contactless delivery so the vulnerable can stay safe at home instead of waiting in line.

Your neighbors and your city's restaurants need help. You can lend them a lifeline.

Thank you for your support,

Team Project Restore Us