Maya Meredith on Her Art Sale Fundraiser for the Restaurant Workers' Community Foundation
I’m so excited to share that longtime She Spends community member Maya Meredith is gearing up to host an art sale to benefit the Restaurant Workers' Community Foundation.
You may remember Maya from the Bake Sale for Reproductive Rights fundraiser that she hosted last summer, or perhaps have seen her name pop up in the She Spends Facebook group. For this newsletter, I interviewed her about her upcoming art sale, her previous fundraising efforts, and how she budgets to regularly support organizations she loves.
But first! Details on the art sale: It will begin on July 12 and run through the 26th, and will specifically support the RCWF’s Covid-19 relief fund. That fund provides direct relief for workers and nonprofits serving them. It also provides zero-interest loans to restaurants looking to get back on their feet.
To learn more, check out this link, and follow Maya on Instagram for updates. You can donate early here, and learn more about how the RCWF is supporting restaurants and their workers here.
The following interview has been edited and condensed for clarity. The art that appears throughout the story can be found on sale here.
Tell me a little about why you wanted to support the RCWF.
I have been connected to the restaurant industry in one way or another for a while. One of the things that I feel really strongly about is the potential complete collapse of the restaurant industry during this pandemic. I’ve been thinking a lot about people who are employed by the industry, especially immigrants and undocumented workers. That has been a big focus for me in terms of the financial giving I want to do.
Food is a part of my personal money story too. I got into cooking a lot because I couldn’t afford not to. The first summer that I spent in New York when I was an intern in college. I was making just above minimum wage. Food was the only thing that could be both inexpensive and luxurious.
I did my undergraduate thesis on American food culture and the focus on slow food and gender. I believe the valorization of slow and time-consuming dishes is a tool to oppress women. Convenience food is really important for getting women out of the home. I am also interested in food from a cultural criticism perspective. It provides a pathway to get to know so many different parts of the world. Reading food writing has given me the opportunity to learn about so many cultures that I would have otherwise learned about. It’s a personal hobby and intellectual interest.
You work in grant-writing now, helping to raise money for a local non-profit. How did you get involved in this work?
I used to work in communications, and at one point worked as a restaurant publicist. After the 2016 election, I felt that I wanted to move into a job that was more in public service. In the summer of 2017, I started applying for marketing and communications roles at nonprofits, including a position at the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. They had just hired somebody in that role, they were interested in my resume, so they kicked it over to their development team.
I was hired to work as their direct marketing manager, overseeing their direct mail program. At the Legal Defense Fund, I came to realize that development was where I wanted to focus my career. I really appreciate it because it allows you to be involved with the work of organizations you care about, without needing sector expertise. On the development side, you’re bringing in the money that’s keeping the lights on. It’s a very impactful way to be involved.
At the LDF, I ended up helping out with grant writing and writing communications that went to major donors. Writing grants is how I found out how I wanted to get into institutional giving, which focuses on foundations, endowments, and corporations. When you’re writing for grants, they want you to get into deep detail. I just found that it was more my strength. Now I work on grants full time for a local New York nonprofit.
How did you start hosting fundraisers on your own?
Last year, I went to my grandmother’s 80th birthday and at the event, she spoke to me and all of my cousins, encouraging us to donate to different organizations. She’s extremely politically active — she used to be a lobbyist. I learned from her that I can just add a donation component to parties I have. I did end up doing that for my birthday party last year. I encouraged people to donate to Make the Road New York.
I was thinking about that when I decided to host the bake sale fundraiser for the National Network of Abortion Providers. Separately, a restaurant in New York did a fundraiser for Planned Parenthood where they did a big bake sale last spring. I was like, I could do that. I have enough friends who would want to buy stuff from me. So I priced it out and did the bulk of the work, asking a few friends to contribute one or two things to the event.
How do you personally budget for donations?
I have kind of an intense personal budgeting system. But basically, I got a promotion and I finally had enough disposable income where I felt like I didn’t need to spend any more money on myself. It was time to start looking for organizations I could give to. I started off small. Every time I got a raise, I would reassess how much money I could give. I give monthly to six organizations with donations spanning between $15 to $50.
My goal is to get to the point where I'm giving 10% of my income. Since college, I’ve been very stringent about saving, so I’m used to having a relatively constrained budget. That $50 that I'm not spending on myself can have such a bigger impact on others. It’s just understanding how much of an impact small-dollar donations can have, especially when we’re funding mutual aid.
As a fundraiser, I would encourage people to give monthly. In fundraising, we try to get multi-year commitments, because that’s sustained funding. As far as choosing where to give, having a general idea about issues you care about helps. Think about local organizations too. I also think that community-led organizations are important. People in the community should have an influence on solving problems in the community.
What’s one thing that has been inspiring you lately?
There’s a newsletter that I’m obsessed with right now - Alicia Kennedy’s newsletter. She’s bringing such a high level of food media and culture criticism in ways that I wouldn't think about. She’s an anti-capitalism star.
What would you like to share with our readers?
I want to encourage people who are interested in mission-driven work to get involved with nonprofits in communications and development. Personally, there just aren’t enough people of color in the field. It’s a great way to get involved in a mission-driven organization without a ton of expertise. It’s a woman-dominated industry. I have never had a male-boss. I feel like it’s a plus for me.
