You can't imagine how many emails we get these days asking about the Free Store. Can we still drop off donations, when will the store open, what are you doing about COVID, etc... Well let's dive into some of those questions so that our community has a better idea of what is happening with the Store. In March, the Free Store experienced the beginning of the COVID crisis like everyone. News was starting to float around about the virus; some places were thinking of closing; should we close too? Just as the NBA decided to shut down, the Free Store decided that we didn't want to put people at risk and we closed our doors, uncertain about how long the pandemic would last. Fast-forward to July and the holding pattern for businesses was loosening up. At that point we decided to put together a plan that would allow operations at the Free Store to get going again. How could we not? We were getting messages every day asking about the store and how people could get access.  The Free St...

We certainly live in strange times. Not many people predicted the impact the COVID19 virus would have on the planet. People are coming together (metaphorically), to share resources and support one another. But COVID19 is also sharing an important message about the impending climate crisis. The big question is, are we listening. I am definitely not the only person asking this question, but is the COVID19 crisis a sneak peek of what's to come with the climate crisis? I want to explore what we can learn and how we might adapt. I don't intend to draw a link to the virus and changes in the climate (many people have already done that). But I intend to draw the comparisons between COVID19 and climate change. The first thing to consider is how the two crises are similar. This is not an exhaustive list, but it gets the point across. Both have a global reach; Both disproportionately impact lower economic / social groups; Both have disbelievers who think that it won't impac...