by Josh L.
Hello! My name is Josh L. and I’m currently one of the co-chairs of the Quad Cities DSA’s Mutual Aid Working Group. I wanted to take a bit of time to discuss our canvassing efforts concerning the profusion of little, free pantries throughout the Quad Cities.
Our immediate goals for this are simple. We are building neighborhood awareness of these resources, soliciting donations, and getting our name out there. Our long-term goals for this, however, are ambitious. We want to set up a community fridge and organize neighborhoods to adopt their little, free pantry.
So far, we have canvassed around the pantry behind Two Rivers United Methodist Church in downtown Rock Island, the pantry at the corner of 31st Avenue and 9th Street in Rock Island, and the pantry in the parking lot of Grace Lutheran Church in Davenport.
We usually break into groups of 2 or 3, split up our handmade flyers, and then walk and knock doors, hoping to catch someone and have a quick conversation about the pantry and who we are. Despite a smattering of issues like nervousness, a poorly organized flyer, or not having enough flyers, we haven’t stopped. Every setback offers a way to change and meet the problem.
To this end, we take time to have a retrospective about our canvassing and how to refine it in light of our goals. How do we get from canvassing to a community fridge or a neighborhood adopting their local pantry? How do we make the foundation we need to scale up to those lofty goals? If these questions intrigue you, I am personally inviting you to come to one of our meetings.