Shop For Fun(ds)
After learning about the landmark decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, we rolled up our sleeves and brainstormed ways we could help. We decided to organize the Shop For Fun(ds) market. At the end of July, we gathered 18 of our favorite small businesses and hosted a 2-day community market to raise funds for the National Network of Abortion Funds. They help make abortions accessible to those who can’t afford the procedure and help to remove the logistical barriers of abortion access. We successfully raised over $6000 for the organization.
In addition to donating money to abortion funds and helping to support small businesses, we also gathered as a community for the first time in a long time. For me, that weekend was the first time since the pandemic that I’ve met so many new people in real life. Sharing physical space with others after a time marked by immeasurable loss and separation felt so foreign yet comforting. Like most people, navigating community and relationships post pandemic has felt difficult and lonely. It felt so great to come together to support a cause we all believe in.
- Ashley MarianoI think the thing about doing stuff alone is that, while it’s always helpful (move your body, donate to a cause, ideate), it feels less impactful. It’s not true of course, but there’s a camaraderie, a feeling of, we’re in this together: I agree with you, I see you, I feel what you’re feeling, you’re not alone, when we can come together.
When Ashley and I sat in such awe of the profoundly terrible ruling, over zoom (Ashley in the Bay, me in LA), looking at each other like how do we even talk about anything else? What can we do? And instead of throwing a ten-year anniversary dinner with cute flowers and beautiful ladies we’ve featured in the last decade, we decided to celebrate with everyone, in a way that felt community-centered and not only By Way of focused. Cause like it’s been, it’s always been by way of this place, this person, this time, that’s marked who we are, who we’ve been, and even more, who we’re becoming.
- Sarah KimThank you to our friends, our community: Still Carnation, MULTI, Disco Cubes, Lifetime of Leisure, Pari Desai, Rifill Candles, Abbie Martin, Max’s Yummy, Jeanne Heo & Friends, Divine Individual, Botanica Workshop, Heavy Dog Records, Seedy, One Hot Minute, Gjenmi, Babos Shoes, Alex James, Vegan Banh Mi Tao, and Merci Milo! We couldn’t have done anything without your willingness to sell your wonderful goods and your down-ness to donate to Abortion Funds.