With these projects you can help Amsterdammers with a small grant
The Kitchen Collective (East)
This recently established foundation makes good use of the generation that likes to have food delivered. For no more than a tenner, residents of the Indische Buurt can purchase two: one for themselves, and one for someone with a small budget. The are prepared by neighborhood chefs who are prepared by learning to cook professionally, usually within their own specialty. According to the foundation, the deliverers are ‘underprivileged young people from the neighborhood’ and are paid. As much as possible is locally produced and/or saved from food waste.
neighborhood belly
In every Amsterdam district there is a neighborhood belly Establishment: Volunteers gather in local community centers to prepare three courses of products that would otherwise be thrown away. Then everyone from the neighborhood is welcome to join us for dinner. Under the motto ‘food that lives’, the foundation wants to ensure that local residents – precisely designed who live below the poverty line – get to know each other. The foundation is regularly looking for new volunteers and donations.
The Cyber Bank
The first will open at the end of 2021 cyber bank of the Netherlands opens its doors in Amsterdam. It is an initiative of the Foundation Cyber Souk, a platform for digital self-reliance. Amsterdam residents with a low income and a city pass (green dot) can get a laptop for a 20 euro deposit. Organizations and individuals can donate the laptops; which are then refurbished by young people in Amsterdam who are at a distance from the labor market.
The bank is also open to residents of Amsterdam with digital questions. Millions of people do not have insufficient digital skills, Cybersouk wants to close this ‘digital divide’. Volunteers are welcome, old laptops, as long as they are on the conditions to fulfil.
Fixbrigade
With the fast energy bills, having a bad home may face a cold winter. The Fix Brigade want to prevent that. What started as a small neighborhood project in East is now also active in North and New West, with municipal and even European subsidies.
The Fixbrigade visits low-income households to better insulate their homes for free. Think of holes and sealing, placing radiator foil and adjusting the heating better. The Fixbrigade is also a work/learning project for young people and status holders. They are formed by the Jungle sustainability center – which is behind the project – and eventually move on to paid work or training.
Dress for success
This foundation has been committed to helping job seekers with a minimum income with their applications for years, namely by providing them with representative clothing. In addition, the foundation provides application tips. The aim is to break the negative spiral where people can’t find work because they don’t have the money to look ‘professional’. The foundation is national, the Amsterdam branch is located in the World Fashion Center in Nieuw-West. They accept, volunteers and of course clothing.
Life & Style
Ouarda El Morabet, founder of Life & Style Foundation, came up with the idea during the corona crisis to cook and distribute meals to vulnerable Amsterdammers, such as those with a low income, the homeless and undocumented migrants. Because the need remains high, the project continues. In principle, the foundation wants to cook twice a week and distribute about 300 meals at a time from the neighborhood in East, but due to a lack of space, this is sometimes only possible once a week. The foundation is therefore looking for more spaces in East and donations to be able to rent them.
The foundation has also had a give-away shop since 2001, where second-hand clothing is collected that the less fortunate can pick up for free. The foundation has no shortage of donations, and a larger space is therefore needed for the give-away shop. The foundation also organizes activities for a healthy lifestyle and training for women with a distance to the labor market.
Helen’s Free Food Market
Products are also realized for residents of Amsterdam-Noord for people with a small wallet. Northerner Helen van der Bilt started her ‘free food market’ with one neighbor, and now has a group of 40 volunteers under her, of which the previous 15 help. In 2021 they will distribute food to about 80 households in the Vogelbuurt and tasks.
Supermarket Fresh
This project hasn’t quite started yet, but an ongoing crowdfunding should change that. Former Amsterdammer of the Year Abdelhamid Idrissi wants to set up a free supermarket for Amsterdammers who are struggling financially. The intention is that visitors can choose what they need, in a store full of fresh products from local partners. Idrissi also helps them with informal care and debt counseling.
In corona time, Idrissi also set up a foundation Farming for Neighbors which is filled with local fruits and vegetables.
Hope for Tomorrow
Regine Mac-Nack, also a former Amsterdammer of the Year, opened her own food bank in Southeast 25 years ago on: Hope for Tomorrow. The foundation is not active and future approximately 2,000 Amsterdam families of a food package. The difference with the regular bank is that there are changed requirements for who is included in the proposals. The foundation receives no subsidies and is therefore completely dependent on donations.
Do you know Amsterdam people who are not missing from this list? Let us know via [email protected].
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