To: Ecleen Luzmila Caraballo, Remezcla Features Editor, <[email protected]>
From: Naydeline Mejia, <[email protected]>
Hi Ecleen,
I hope you’re well! It’s been a while since we’ve been in contact. I see that you’ve transitioned roles from News & Special Projects Editor to Features Editor. That is amazing, congrats!
I am contacting you because I have an idea for a local community story that I would like to run by you, and hopefully you would be interested in commissioning it and/or passing it along to the new culture editor.
The coronavirus pandemic has left millions of Americans unemployed and flooding food banks as the need for affordable groceries surges. Mission Helping Hands is a mutual aid program based in the South Bronx working to provide quality meals and provisions for the community. The South Bronx population is largely made up of Hispanics, many of them of Dominican and Puerto Rican descent, who have been dealing with food scarcity as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. In response to COVID-19, Mission Helping Hands started The Garden Project. Through the Garden Project, MHH has partnered with three community gardens in the area to provide a healthy, sustainable food source for the community. These gardens serve multiple purposes as safe spaces for children to play, points for food distribution, education centers for providing free courses on nutrition for community members, as well as mental health spaces.
I believe that this story is important and timely as MHH is helping address a need that has been exacerbated by the pandemic: food insecurity. Even after the spread of the virus has slowed and been put under control, The Garden Project will continue to serve as a vital resource for the poorest congressional district in America.
I am aware that Remezcla has done similar coverage recently, and I hope that this story will help to keep the conversation going on the site. As you know, I have done similar charity-based stories in the past, specifically thinking about this piece, and I am especially excited to cover a program right outside of my neighborhood.
For this story I am envisioning around 800 words with photography, which I can provide.
Thank you for your time, and I look forward to hearing from you!
Best,
Naydeline