After seeing lines of empty shelves in the supermarket, Augustina Valenza, owner of Fragola, a plant-based baby food delivery service, knew that families would be hit hard.

“A friend of mine mentioned to me that he was temporarily closing his restaurant and having to lay of 110 people who live paycheck to paycheck,” says Valenza, who knew the financial crisis would be an immediate one for many. Hours after that conversation, she put a call-out on her Instagram, sharing that Fragola would give free boxes to moms in need. The responses began pouring in. 

What has struck Valenza most is how a simple act of generosity had such a powerful domino effect, “It started with me giving free boxes and quickly turned into something larger than I could have ever imagined.  One of my customers reached out asking how she could donate or help. It hadn’t even occurred to me that others would want to help!”

This inspired Valenza to partner up moms who wanted to donate with moms who needed help, and since that first donation, Fragola has been able to organize hundreds of box drops to families in need. “It’s been an amazing response and I could have never imagined that I could have such an impact to be able to help people. “

Each box contains a week’s worth of food. Meals are freezer safe, so ideal for life during a global pandemic. Right now, sadly, the demand for boxes is in the thousands, proving the tremendous impact that the COVID-19 crisis has had on food security in our city. “I am doing my best to send boxes to all of them.” Donations can be made here.