Local musician Jimmy Redd decided he had to do something when restaurants in Starkville closed their dine-in services in March due to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.
“All of a sudden, all my friends are out of work,” he said. “They don’t know how they’re going to pay rent and utilities, and all this was before we knew about stimulus checks (or) that people were going to get more money for unemployment.”
To help ease people’s distress, he started a Facebook page where he said he hoped members of the Starkville community would share things like individual crowdfunding campaigns.
“Then, local restaurants and businesses really latched onto this as a way to help them get over that hump they faced,” Redd said.
The group, Starkville Strong, became a COVID-19 relief organization managed through Oktibbeha Starkville Emergency Response Volunteer Services (OSERVS). The group provides gift cards from restaurants, grocery stores and other locally owned businesses to people who have experienced layoffs, reduced work hours or other financial struggles due to the pandemic.
“We’re trying to support local entities and at the same time help out people who are economically distressed,” Redd said.
The gift cards come in lieu of the typical idea of a “care package” since packaging food involves physical contact with food items, so the program also limits potential exposure to COVID-19, he said.
The Starkville Rotary Foundation provided Starkville Strong with $2,500, and the Starkville Utilities Department announced Tuesday that it will contribute another $2,500 through a partnership with the Tennessee Valley Authority. The partnership is also providing $7,500 to United Way of North Central Mississippi to help Starkville and Oktibbeha County residents catch up on unpaid utility bills, and United Way will also contribute a matching amount.
Rotary Foundation executive director Ned Browning said he brought the idea of funding Starkville Strong to the foundation board, and the group has raised thousands of dollars since then. Restaurants like Casa Bravo and grocers like United Produce have made donations to Starkville Strong, Redd said.
People have recently been using the Facebook page to help each other obtain hand sanitizer, paper towels and protective face masks. They also share lists of local food pantries and have been promoting local restaurants and other businesses as they have been allowed to reopen with restrictions over the past week.
“My idea was to create a positive environment to help people learn things, to connect people with resources they need, and it’s evolved into that,” Redd said.
Tess Vrbin was previously a reporter for The Dispatch.
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