The People's Table / La Mesa del Pueblo

Help us reach $1,000 a month by Saturday, November 21. Our community chips in $938 a month right now, just $62 a month away.

That Saturday, we want our neighbors to do more than grab a plate and go. We're setting up tables so neighbors can sit down together, eat a hot lunch, catch up with each other and stay as long as they like. And when it's time to go, everyone leaves with a bag of groceries and winter clothes for the cold months ahead.

We can't pull off The People's Table without you. Every monthly gift gets us closer, whether it's $5, $10 or $25, and your first month will help set the table on the 21st.

And your gift does more than fill plates. One neighbor who has come every single Saturday since March told us their doctor said their cholesterol went down because they're eating more vegetables, and now they're cooking vegetables they'd never tried before. Other neighbors tell us coming here feels "safe and homey," and that seeing their neighbors is what they look forward to every Saturday.

That's why bringing neighbors together has been the heart of Bronx Mutual Aid from day one. Every Saturday we get to know our neighbors a little better, and we know so many of them by name. The People's Table is the first time we're setting aside real time and space for the longer conversations, the kind where people truly get to know each other. It's the next step in what we've been building since March.

It matters because capitalism keeps so many of us isolated: working two jobs just to get by, stretched thin, with barely any time left for each other. The People's Table is the opposite: a place where neighbors break bread together like family, because we're here for one another and we take care of one another.

Who we are

Bronx Mutual Aid is a free food survival program in the South Bronx, community led and run by people who grew up in this neighborhood. Every Saturday, 1 to 2pm, we're on the corner of E 149th St and Eagle Ave with hot meals, produce, clothes, toiletries, books and harm reduction supplies for 200+ neighbors. We don't ask for ID or paperwork, our goal is to build community power.

We don't rely on grants, corporations or politicians. Everyday people keep this going.

What we've built since March

People like you have kept us going every Saturday since March, no days off, through heat waves, torrential rain, flash floods and hazardous air. When the heat wave hit, we bought a chest freezer so every neighbor in line could leave with ice-cold water. On July 4th, the worst of it, 300+ neighbors came through. When wildfire smoke made the air hazardous to breathe, everyone in line got a mask.

Then came our biggest Saturday yet: our back to school distro on Saturday, September 5 brought out 600+ neighbors. Over 150 kids left with a new backpack or school supplies, plus free braids and face painting. Close to 50 volunteers from the Bronx ran it.

This fall, when neighbors asked for help feeding their pets, we held our Paws and Claws Distro on Saturday, October 24: dog and cat food, treats, litter, beds and toys, plus free blood pressure and blood sugar checks. NYC Parks threatened to call the NYPD on us that day. Our neighbors spoke up, and Parks backed down.

A week later, our Trick or Treat Distro on Saturday, October 31 brought candy, homemade desserts, arts and crafts and costumes to the block. We debuted homemade hot chocolate on equipment our donors paid for, and rented a U-Haul for the first time so we could haul more produce.

How far a little money goes

Here's the part that surprises people: we did all of that with less than $1,000 a month in monthly donations. The rest came in small gifts, raised Saturday to Saturday.

We know how to stretch a dollar. About $125 puts a hot meal in front of 200+ neighbors, which comes out to around 60 cents a plate. That means $5 a month covers hot meals for 8 neighbors, $10 covers 16 and $25 covers 40. Small monthly gifts go a long way here.

Why monthly matters

We're also growing, and every season brings something new to pay for: a table breaks, the cold sets in, the line gets longer and we need more food.

Monthly donations mean we can plan for that instead of scrambling. At $1,000 a month, monthly donations alone cover our storage unit and the U-Haul every Saturday, so everything else can go straight to food and supplies.

What it takes to keep this going:

Hot food: about $125 every Saturday
Water: cases of water every Saturday
Hot drinks for the winter: coffee, tea, hot chocolate and cups
Supplies we go through every week: to-go boxes, forks, napkins, gloves and bags
Gas and tolls to pick up produce and donations
The U-Haul: $125 every Saturday to haul it all to the corner
Storage: $415 a month for the unit that holds everything
Equipment that wears out and needs replacing: tables and trolley carts

Every dollar goes right back into it.

Pick any amount. Your gift repeats every month.

See you at The People's Table. Nos vemos en La Mesa del Pueblo.

No cops. No nonprofits. No politicians.
Nosotros nos cuidamos. Nosotros nos protegemos.

A community-led survival program feeding 200+ Bronx neighbors every Saturday