Feed It Forward Sonoma County aims toconnect takeout meals with those in need amid shutdown

Kim Isley describes herself as a problem solver. A helper. An idea person.

Her latest project came from witnessing so many people out of work during the coronavirus shutdown.

She knew of so many restaurants working desperately to stay afloat on only takeout orders.

But how to help, she wondered.

And that’s how Feed It Forward Sonoma County came to be.

It’s a pandemic pop-up web service that connects people in need of a meal with restaurants in need of customers, helping both sides.

Donations raised go toward gift cards Isley and her team of volunteers buy in bulk at local restaurants and then distribute to recipients who have lost work during the shutdown.

So far, she’s raised about $6,800 with a goal of $10,000, and has distributed $40 gift cards to more than 100 people.

The only expenses are the website and postage to mail the cards.

The idea began percolating in early April, when Isley picked up food at King Falafel in Sebastopol, one of her favorite local eateries. She’s familiar enough with the owners to know they must be struggling with the shelter-in-place order.

“It’s usually busy in there, and it was dead,” she said. “I asked, ‘How are you? How is it going?’?”

The answer broke her heart.

“He just gave me this look, there was such pain in his face. It just killed me,” Isley said. “I thought, he could lose his business, his whole livelihood, everything he and his family have worked for - for something completely out of his control.”

She left knowing she had to do something to help. But she also knew she couldn’t save the business all by herself.

“I got this idea: What if those of who still have jobs, the lucky ones of us, did a random act of kindness by sponsoring a meal for somebody in the county who’s lost a job?” she said, “So we can support each other and spread goodwill in the community, and at the same time support the tiny, family-run restaurant.”

She dismissed the doubts - “This is going to be a lot of work” - and lost sleep for a couple nights. She and her wife brainstormed over a weekend.

“Then I decided I can’t not do it,” she said.

Isley already runs an e-commerce site, Trees for a Change, so she was easily able to set up a Feed It Forward Facebook page and a separate website for the effort and connect them both to a GoFundMe page for donations.

The website takes meal requests, recipient sponsorships and restaurant recommendations. Someone can sign themselves up or nominate someone else in need. Isley and eight volunteers vet recipients to assure they’ve lost work due to the coronavirus crisis.

Isley buys $400 worth of gift cards at a time, then distributes them to 10 recipients.

The gifts can be anonymous.

Laura and Kevin Robinson and their kids, Grace and Brayden, were the recipients of a gift card to Tov Tofu, a Korean restaurant in Bennett Valley.

The anonymous gift came at a perfect time for the couple, both of whom are self-employed.

Laura could no longer see clients as a strength trainer at E Fitness gym, and Kevin had to close his taproom, formerly Plow, now Iron Ox Brewing Co. Selling quart cans of his beers curbside helped, but the couple lost the rest of their income overnight.

“We both had a moment of panic,” she said. Some clients have continued to pay her, and Kevin has taken the time to rebrand the brewery and expand the Industrial Drive taproom.

“I was very grateful and surprisingly emotional when it arrived,” Robinson said of the unexpected support. “I felt so thankful that there are generous people like Kim and the anonymous sponsor who want to help people during this time.”

Acupuncturist Bruce Boldon and his wife, Debbie, felt the same when they received an anonymous donation. He had to shut down his practice when the shelter-in-place order began in mid-March.

“It’s just been panic and worry and trying to apply for everything that’s supposed to be available,” he said. “This was the first positive thing we had happen. And it was such a delight.”

When the couple used their gift card to Canevari’s Italian deli, they said the shop owners were just as grateful as they were.

“They were very thankful for the business,” Boldon said. “That’s another one of the nice things about this. It was not only a happy day and a good thing for us, but for the restaurant and the community too.”

That’s exactly the circle of support Isley was hoping to complete.

“Kindness begets kindness, and kindness inspires kindness,” Isley said. “The people who are getting these cards in the mail, I’m hopeful they will be inspired to do something nice for someone else in some way.”

Her service has already inspired some to pay the kindness forward. One downtown Santa Rosa restaurant Isley contacted to ask if they needed help said they were doing well enough that Isley should help another place. The owners of Cotija’s Mexican restaurant in Cotati were so grateful for the purchase of 10 $40 gift cards, they gave her 11.

“I’m going to give you 11 because I’m so touched by what you’re doing,” Isley said the owner told her.

Though her idea for Feed It Forward technically grew out of the coronavirus, it had its germination in 2017 during the wildfires.

“I was completely blown away by the level of community support I saw happening,” said Isley, who’d lived here about a decade by then. “I don’t think we knew quite what we were made of as a community until the Tubbs fire happened.

“I feel like that horrible, devastating incident really created a community identity of supporting each other and having each other’s back.”

Isley will keep the web service running as long as it continues to be needed. She said she has enough volunteers, but meal requests and sponsorships of any amount are welcome.