Concerned citizens fight growing food insecurity

A pedestrian receives a free meal from a volunteer

“Four,” came the shout as another car filed into Richmond Police Activities League’s parking lot on September 22. This was passed down the line to a platoon of volunteers who rushed to assemble four food bundles as the car approached. Every Tuesday and Thursday since early September, thousands of these bundles, prepared by a variety…

Read More

Richmond event gives female entrepreneurs advice on funding their businesses

Female entrepreneurs from across the Bay Area came to Richmond to attend “Finance Your Business! for Women Entrepreneurs,” free evening workshop on October 28. The event was hosted by the Richmond Main Street Initiative in partnership with the Mission Economic Develop Agency (MEDA), a San Francisco-based organization which helps provide resources for low-to-moderate income families,…

Read More

Spirit and Soul festival aims to revive downtown

Natasha Vinakor (center) sambas her way down MacDonald Avenue at the Spirit and Soul Festival. (Photo by Brittany Kirstin)

The seventh annual Spirit and Soul Festival filled downtown with the rhythmic beats of jazz musicians and the enticing smells of fried chicken and barbecue. Put on by the Richmond Main Street Initiative, a nonprofit organization that works to reinvigorate the downtown, the festival drew about 800 people this year–and there would have been more, organizers insisted, were it not for the sizzling heat.

Read More