After months of hard work, Future Economy Collective has opened the doors to our new space, located at 700 N. Main St, Suite E, Blacksburg VA, above Mill Mountain Coffee and across the hallway from the Brow Bar. The space facilitates our mutual aid work, community-building, and overall capacity-building.
There are a variety of events planned this month, including a mutual aid distro, a volunteer orientation, and a community meeting. If you have an idea for an event you’d like to host, please read on for info. We are working on social and educational events for the coming months, so stay tuned for more updates! You can expect future installments of this newsletter approximately once a month.
January Events
Volunteer Orientation and Workday: Saturday, January 17th. Orientation from 12pm-1pm, workday from 1pm-4pm at the FEC Space, 700 N. Main St. Orientation is a chance to learn about our values, norms, and agreements; how a consensus-based space operates; and specific ways to get involved. Following the orientation, we will work on cleaning and organizing the space. Stay for as little or as long as you would like!
Mutual Aid Distribution: Sunday, January 18th from 2pm-3pm behind the North Main Laundromat at 1003 N. Main St, Blacksburg. Take what you need, leave what you can. Food, toiletries, and household supplies are available at no cost and with no questions asked. Future distros will be held every third Sunday of the month from 2pm-3pm. See below if you are interested in volunteering or donating!
Community Meeting: Sunday, January 25th from 3pm-5pm at the FEC Space, 700 N. Main St, Suite E. These meetings are an intentional space to hear from community members about issues affecting them, so we can learn how to best support the community. Mark your calendars for our second Community Meeting on Sunday, August 30th from 3pm-5pm.
Weekly Planning Meetings: every Sunday from 3pm-5pm at the FEC Space, 700 N. Main St, Suite E, and online through Google meet, found at this link. Anyone interested in being involved with the planning and shaping of FEC is welcome to join.
Volunteer Opportunities
Volunteer Orientation and Workday: Saturday, January 17th. Orientation from 12pm-1pm, workday from 1pm-4pm at the FEC Space, 700 N. Main St, Suite E. Workday will include cleaning, organizing, and possibly construction, with tasks for people of all experience levels. Although we have already done a ton of work on the new space, we still need to increase accessibility by enlarging the bathroom and installing a new sink. If you want to lend a hand with this project, please reach out to us by email!
Mutual Aid Donation Sorting and Distribution: Sunday, January 18th. Help sort donations from 1pm-1:45pm at the FEC Space, 700 N. Main St, Suite E, followed by distributing goods behind the North Main Laundromat at 1003 N. Main from 2pm-3pm. Please reply to this email to let us know if you plan to come! Distros are the third Sunday of every month, so mark your calendars if you are interested in helping in the future.
Support our efforts
You can donate goods for Mutual Aid distros to the collection box at Eats Natural Foods, located at 708 N Main Street. Needed items include cleaning products, toiletries including menstrual products, and non-perishable foods such as peanut butter, canned proteins, pasta, and baby food.
All monetary donations support our day-to-day operations or are invested directly back into the community through our free fridge and mutual aid distros. Everyone at FEC is a volunteer, so no donations go towards salaries. Please consider making one-time or recurring donations through Zeffy (preferred), Patreon, or Paypal.
The Community Fridge and Pantry behind Ukirk Presbyterian Campus Ministry at 305 Washington Street SW in Blacksburg are always open for donations. Make sure to include a full ingredients list on any home-made items, and write the date you added them to the fridge.
Borrow or share tools for free!
Do you have projects and tasks that require tools you don't have, and want to borrow tools for free from your neighbors in the New River Valley? We have launched a virtual tool library in memory of Abram Lee. Anyone in the community can list, share, and borrow tools at no cost. Check out the tool library by clicking here! People who would like to list items can send a photo, item name, and item description to our email [email protected] or [email protected].
Help protect an endangered millipede that is endemic to the Ellett Valley. The Ellett Valley Millipede is threatened by housing developments and the Mountain Valley Pipeline.
The Center for Biological Diversity just filed a lawsuit to get the Ellett Valley Millipede listed on the Endangered Species Act. If this happened, the US Fish & Wildlife Service would be legally required to protect their habitat. The goal is 2000 signatures by Earth Day.
Anyone who wants to protect the Appalachian mountains and our critters can sign - they don't have to live in SWVA.
Future Economy Collective is a grassroots, community-based, all-volunteer-run, certified 501c3 based in southwest Virginia’s New River Valley.
Our website is futureeconomycollective.org or check out our Linktree
You can reach us by replying to this email or reaching out to [email protected] or [email protected]
The Future Economy Collective Space is located at 700 N. Main St, Suite E, in Blacksburg, VA. It is above Mill Mountain Coffee, across the hall from the Wax Studio and Brow Bar.
