People’s Pantry: volunteering through the pandemic
In the unforgettable year of 2020, when the entire world was fighting COVID-19, I was a fresh-off-the-boat immigrant in Toronto. I didn’t have friends yet and I didn’t know the city either. At the same time, I had a lot of energy and high hopes I brought to Canada with me. Thus, I’ve decided to volunteer for this student-led grassroots initiative called People’s Pantry I found online. The idea was simple – some people would do groceries, others would cook and some other folks would deliver fresh food to people who have been experiencing food insecurity due to the pandemic. Since I already have bought a bicycle and was eager to get to know my new home better, I’ve embarked on an almost year-long journey of daily deliveries, riding my bike from 10 to over 40 km a day across the city.
This experience allowed me to get to know the city, understand the people living there and sense the urban reality of a North American city in a very instructive way, informing my research ever since. That same year, I wrote a working paper about ad hoc informal solutions in times of crisis. Years later, when my interest in the lives of fellow immigrants led me to an in-depth inquiry into the St. James Town neighbourhood, the experiences from People’s Pantry proved invaluable in situating that neighbourhood in a larger urban context.
People’s Pantry and Creating Inclusive Spaces for Migrants During the Pandemic (2020)