By: Catherine Daleo
Reading time: 2 ½ minutes
As temperatures drop and people increase their consumption during the holiday season, one local group has centered their monthly action around helping our homeless community out in the cold, with little to nothing.
Fifth Sun Project – a small, women-led group that focuses on cultural awareness, indigenous activism, and raising funds and support for the Las Vegas community – is doing a duo-action fundraiser and donation drive for December.
Through the 11th, Fifth Sun Project is collecting donations and ingredients to make traditional holiday foods to share with both the people who donate and those in need. The food will be distributed the following day.
“Our goal is to make 300 plant-based tamales & five gallons of hot champurrado ready to serve on 12/12. We have till December 11th to raise just enough!” (FSP post).
The other half of their duo-action is a winter clothing drive, collecting all types of cold-season items for both humans and animals. This includes any jackets, scarves, gloves, beanies, blankets, pet beds, shoes or booties, and anything else that can help our homeless community and their pets get through the winter (and the pandemic) a little safer.
“We wanted to collect materials that are needed during the coldest time of the year and make holiday foods for those that aren’t as lucky as us to keep warm and cook hot meals for this vulnerable season,” said Eztli Amaya, one of the cofounders of Fifth Sun Project. “So we decided to do a 2-in-1 action that could do both and bring our community organizers together.”
On Saturday, December 12th, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., Fifth Sun Project will be doing a curb-side donation drop-off and food pick-up at 1010 North Main Street, in the front parking lot of United Movement Organized Kindness (UMOK). Those who donated funds or ingredients to make the food and those who drop off donations at the parking lot will receive “some yummy decolonized foods to-go!” (FSP post).
The other half of the food that is made, and the donation items, will be split between Fifth Sun Project’s partners for this month’s action who will distribute everything to the houseless folks in the community and their pets “so they can stay warm and [have] their bellies full with good healthy food!” (FSP post).
These partners include Food Not Bombs (Las Vegas), Las Vegas Liberation, and Street Dogz.
Those who wish to volunteer to distribute food to the houseless community are encouraged to contact Food Not Bombs and Las Vegas Liberation.
These donations come at an even more urgent time of need, as a homeless encampment was just removed by the City of Las Vegas, in conjunction with the City of North Las Vegas and the Nevada Department of Transportation on Monday morning, citing public health and safety concerns as reasoning for the early morning raid.
The encampment included huts built by Food Not Bombs LV, which were destroyed in the raid process. This removal of the encampment goes against the CDC’s COVID-19 guideline to allow those without other housing options to stay where they are unless they’re provided alternative housing by the entity evicting them, (Nevada Current).
“It is with heavy hearts and frustration that we are not surprised this happened. The City of Las Vegas continues to take disgraceful and unethical acts against our most vulnerable communities,” Amaya said, commenting on the situation. “It is shameful and disappointing that they leave so many people left behind with nothing – no alternatives, no solutions, no compassion.”
She went on to say that Fifth Sun Project is inspired by the efforts of organizations like Food Not Bombs and their other partners in continuously showing solidarity and rendering mutual aid for houseless families, mentioning how they show “much more initiative and care in finding solutions.”
On top of losing their homes, these folks also had their belongings thrown out and destroyed, leaving them with nothing but the clothes on their back and the few things they could grab in the five minutes they were given to vacate the premises. With COVID cases rising and the weather getting colder, our homeless neighbors need our help now more than ever.
To make a monetary donation or food/ingredient donation, or if you have any questions, message Fifth Sun Project through their Instagram or Facebook, or email them at fifthsunproject@gmail.com.
“Tlazocamati 🙏” – Fifth Sun Project
To learn more about Fifth Sun Project, check out the article written about their organization here.
#MutualAid #fundraising #ClothingDrive #VegasCommunity #DecolonizeYourDiet #SolidarityNotCharity #FoodNotBombs #LasVegasLiberation #StreetDogz #UnitedMovementOfKindness #FifthSunProject
