Read the article below by Masbia, published in Kosher.com, for details about how Masbia fundraises trailers loads of food, with the help of Jewish chefs, cookbook authors, food writers, and food manufacturers, to help those in need due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Jewish chefs, cookbook authors, food writers, and food manufacturers come together to help Masbia Soup Kitchen Network with trailer loads of food. Some are offering gifts in return for donations, including cookbooks, personal cooking demos, and personally catered meals for donors who make large donations. Some kosher food vendors like Gefen and Haddar even offered to match donations to help reach the goal.

Since the Corona outbreak, the demand for food at Masbia has spiked 500%. Masbia went from distributing 2-3 trailer loads of food a week to over a dozen. Together, they are crowdfunding dozens of trailer loads of different types of food with a total value of $2 million. Each individual trailer has its own goal, and most have their own gift – sponsored by the hosts.

"I am so thankful to all those famous foodies who regularly volunteer at Masbia and wanted to help out,” said Alexander Rapaport, Executive Director of Masbia Soup Kitchen Network, “but due to social distancing, [they] needed to think outside the box.”

They came up with crowdfunding trailers of food. Each one of them chose a food ingredient that they cared to fundraise for. Some even included a recipe for that food item.

People who respond to their call can respond with whatever amount suits them best – the cost of a unit, a case, a pallet, or the entire trailer. There is a progress bar on each page that shows how much each trailer has raised to date.

“Some trailers have matchings from the company, some have gifts from the host, and some even have both," added Rapaport.

Masbia Soup Kitchen Network is the largest kosher soup kitchen. Masbia operates soup kitchens and food pantries out of three locations - two in Brooklyn and one in Queens. Masbia currently serves close to 7,000 families with raw food on a weekly basis and about 5,000 people ready-to-eat dinners every day.

Read the original article HERE.

The article also has been featured in the Hamodia print version, download the article HERE.