Queers Doing Good Fighting Food Insecurity
Food insecurity is more common than you might think. Living without reliable access to a sufficient quantity of affordable, nutritious food—otherwise known as food insecurity—impacts one in every four LGBTQ folks, with even higher rates among women and BIPOC.
As I’ve noted in previous articles, the percentage of people in the LGBTQ community who are food insecure is more than twice that of the general population. And this has a significant impact on our community. Thankfully, organizations such as Gay for Good plan an array of events with the mission to strengthen ties to the broader community. I took the opportunity to connect with one of the co-leaders of the Denver chapter of Gay for Good, Ben Gunderson (he/him), to discuss the depth of work done in the space of food insecurity at the local level.
How did Gay 4 Good Denver get started? What is the mission of the organization?
Gay For Good Denver has been bringing together queer front range volunteers since June of this year. People are surprised to hear we’re that new, as our community has grown exponentially over the past five months! We are the newest (and 19th) chapter of Gay For Good (G4G), a national nonprofit that mobilizes lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer (LGBTQ) and ally volunteers to promote diversity, foster inclusion, and strengthen ties to the broader community. Our chapter is led by five committed co-leaders that keep busy with four service projects and one social per month. It has been a true labor of love.
Tell me about the various specific programs or initiatives that support food insecurity.
It’s funny, we have unintentionally centered many of our service projects around food justice initiatives: community gardening, food rescue, meal delivery, and one very special community cafe. We partnered with Denver Urban Gardens several times this summer tidying existing gardens and helping to build a new one. We have also put love and care into some community gardens on school grounds with the help of organizations such as ReGeneration Now, DPS Gardens, and Huerta Urbana.
G4G just had our first project at the Food Bank of the Rockies, where we packed 648 boxes (which amounts to 17,658 meals). One volunteer bragged about lifting 21,189 pounds that day.
Our popular, bi-monthly “Bag & Brew” gathers folks together at a brewery where we chat, make connections, sip beer, and decorate meal delivery bags for Project Angel Heart, a really incredible organization that prepares and delivers medically tailored meals to people living with severe illnesses.
How does G4G support SAME Café?
First of all, if you don’t know about SAME Café, you should. They build community by gathering folks around nutritious, nourishing food. They are a participatory cafe, which means you can contribute any amount (a penny to a hundred) for your lunch, bring produce from your yard, or even offer 30 minutes of volunteer time. Lunch is typically a delicious pizza, a colorful salad of some kind, and a soup. They’re located in a great spot on Colfax and are about to expand into a neighboring space. Fun fact: they are the longest-running community cafe of this model and just celebrated 16 years!
SAME Café was one of our very first community partners. One Wednesday each month, we squeeze nine volunteers into their kitchen and get to chopping, slicing, dicing, and puréeing produce, baking cookies, and baking bread. We are usually prepping food for a special event or for their farmers market food truck, but we sometimes prep staples to be frozen and used over the winter.
Does G4G accept direct donations? How can someone learn more about how to get involved with G4G?
The core of our work is showing up and offering our goodwill, laughter, and labor, but cash or in-kind donations are always welcome. You can make a one-time or monthly donation by clicking “Donate” on our website (gayforgood.org), and if you’d like to brainstorm in-kind donation ideas, you can always email us at denver@gayforgood.org or message us on social media. We are always looking for spaces to hold events, businesses that will offer our volunteers a deal, connections to merch supply or printing, and a host of other things.
The best ways to keep up with our events are to follow us on social media (Instagram/Facebook: GayForGoodDenver) and by signing up for our monthly newsletter by visiting gayforgood.org/denver and clicking “join.” Our only volunteer requirement is that you show up at projects ready to contribute! If you ever have questions about accessibility, you are welcome to message us, and we will gladly accommodate.
