drywell + food banks. totally obvious partnership

As most folks know, I am an attorney. (I knooooow, right?). While much has been made in the press* of the fact that I gave up a “government attorney” position to be an artist, I haven’t really discussed what that job was.

I was an Asylum Officer, which meant I spent my days interviewing foreign nationals who were applying for asylum here in the United States. It was, as you might imagine, an intense job. It required me to listen to unbelievably atrocious stories of persecution and violence, but on the up side, I was able to help hundreds of people escape their countries and possibly death.

From the get go, my decision to go to law school was motivated by a desire to help others and enter into a public service career. My decision to quit my job (which was unsustainable for oh so many reasons) and then become an artist has been amazing and fulfilling in many ways, but I have felt that some sort of public interest activities have been lacking in my life.

Given that, I am SO excited and proud to announce that starting this year, I’ll be donating 10% of the sale price from each of my “Meat My City” map posters to a local food bank in the corresponding city!!!!

One of the major goals for Drywell Art this year is to expand the line of neighborhood posters, so I’m hoping that lots of money gets donated, nationwide. I’ll donate on a quarterly basis, and share the donations here on the blog.

Right now I have three city maps and I’m proud to announce the corresponding food banks for each one:

San Francisco: All donations will go to the San Francisco Food Bank, where every $1 donated allows them to distribute $6 worth of food! So, buying a SF is for Carnivores posters means that $2.50 of your purchase price will transform into $15 of food for the needy in SF. nice, right?

Brooklyn: All donations will go to St. John’s Bread and Life, located in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn. Their innovative digital food pantry was recently featured in the NY Times.

Seattle: For now, all donations will go to Northwest Harvest, which is an umbrella organization for all of Washington food donation programs. Over 93% of their budget goes to food distribution, and for 67 cents, they can feed a family of three a nutritious meal. (If any Seattlites have a rec for a local Seattle food bank in need of some monies, let me know!)