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<div type="image" title="chef terrance fisher" height="1867" width="2490" msid="79787649" hostid="261"></div><ul class="summary-list"><li>Orlando-based <keyword id="3699" type="POSITION" weightage="60" keywordseo="Chef">chef</keyword> Terrance Fisher learned the value of community-building from a young age, and learned on his own as he pursued his <keyword id="27178" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="cooking">cooking</keyword> career a decade ago.</li><li>Now, Fisher is using his kitchen skills to give back to his Orlando community and beyond.</li><li>He cooked Thanksgiving dinner for five local families as part of a collaboration with charity Everyone Eats. As an ambassador at cooking collective Chef Kulture, Fisher also helps support other communities.</li></ul><p>Three hours before Chef Terrance Fisher was set to serve 300 people at a Johnson University event in Kissimmee, Florida, none of the industrial kitchen's brand new ovens would heat up. </p><p>With university trustees and the president en route to the fancy affair, Fisher knew ordering pizza wasn't an option. Instead, he turned to his boss and told him, "I'm not freaking out, so you can't freak out. We're going to control what we can control," and then to his team, "First thing is, I love y'all. The second thing, we're going to have a great event."</p><p>A few hours later, Fisher and his team turned out hundreds of plates he thought up on a whim. Fisher instructed them on how to prepare the <keyword id="6181" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Food">food</keyword> without a single oven.</p><p>"By the end of it, everybody loved the food, the trustees, the board, everybody. No one knew what happened but the staff," Fisher told Insider. </p><p>Fisher said his ability to thrive under pressure stemmed from his upbringing in Sanford, Florida, a town outside of Orlando.</p><p>There, his mother commanded Fisher, the eldest child, around the kitchen over the phone while she spent nights working and her son prepared dinner for the family. Fisher's grandmother, a food service assistant at local Goldsboro Elementary, showed him that food brought people together - whether in the cafeteria or over Thanksgiving dinner - when she cooked a massive meal for a houseful of guests.</p><p>Today Fisher exemplifies his childhood-taught values as a professional chef. He juggles being a private cook, head chef at Johnson University, a condiment entrepreneur, and an ambassador for <a href="https://www.facebook.com/ChefKulture/">Chef Kulture</a>, a national collective of Black and brown chefs aiming to end <keyword id="3264638" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="food-deserts">food deserts</keyword> through local action.</p><p>This holiday season, Fisher, 41, also <a href="https://www.orlandosentinel.com/food-restaurants/os-et-orlando-chefs-food-hubs-charitable-works-20201026-rdcyo7m36fbfvpiy45gpm4367e-story.html">cooked an early Thanksgiving dinner</a> for the families of five students who attend the same school district where his grandmother served lunches when he was young. </p><p>"The stronger the community, the stronger you become because you have that to fall back on when you have those hard times," Fisher said of his philosophy.</p><h2><strong>Fisher's upbringing, and his cooking career, are rooted in community</strong></h2><p>Fisher didn't know he wanted to cook for a living until he took his first professional course in 2009 as a student at Le Cordon Bleu, a French culinary school.</p><p>His decision to enroll there seemed fated. Fisher was 30 and working at an Orlando Chase Bank branch at the time, but "I wasn't happy anymore because I knew that's not what I wanted to do," he said. </p><p>During a three-day depression-induced television binge, a commercial for Le Cordon Bleu popped up on Fisher's screen. The commercial aired again and again, until he'd seen it 13 times. He took it as a sign.</p><p>The courses came easy to Fisher, a self-described competitive spirit and lover of invention, two necessities in the culinary world.</p><p>After Fisher graduated in 2010, he applied to 20 chef jobs in Orlando, but was rejected from them all. He was considered old by culinary standards, and hotels and restaurants were skeptical of hiring someone with no formal service industry experience.</p><p>But Fisher refused to go back to his banking job where he knew he'd be unhappy. Instead, he turned to his community.</p><p>"I called my church and asked them if I could cook for them all on Wednesday nights just to get practice," Fisher said. "I wasn't getting paid for it. They reimbursed me for groceries, but it was just one of those things where I wanted to learn how to feed large groups of people."</p><h2><strong>A decade later, Fisher is paying it forward in more ways than one</strong></h2><p>Soon, word of Fisher's kitchen prowess traveled and he began catering weddings in the Orlando area.</p><p>Two years later he decided to pivot to a personal chef business, which he calls <a href="https://www.instagram.com/chefterrancefisher/?hl=en">Just Being Chef T</a>.</p><p>In addition to cultivating client relationships and selling Jayde sauce, a homemade condiment he bottled up and named after his daughter, Fisher continues to carve out time for the community that supported him through it all.</p><p>As an ambassador for Chef Kulture, Fisher works with the organization to help them gain new members and raise awareness of initiatives that center around feeding local families.</p><p>At the start of 2020, before the pandemic, Fisher traveled to Atlanta, Georgia and worked with 300 locals and 20 Chef Kulture leaders to clean up a garden where produce would later be planted to feed the community.</p><p>Despite the physical boundaries the pandemic has imposed on almost every facet of life, Fisher spreads kindness these days in the form of a great bite to eat.</p><p>While catering a private birthday dinner for Cori Denson, a grade school music teacher and founder of <a href="http://www.densonsfooddrive.com/">Everyone Eats: Denson's Food Drive</a>, Fisher discovered they had similar goals of helping people. When he saw <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CHncFjPr_7h/">Denson's Instagram post</a> for an upcoming Thanksgiving food drive event honoring five low-income Orlando families, Fisher told Denson he wanted to lend a hand.</p><div type="image" title="Cori Denson and Terrance Fisher at a Thanksgiving food drive" height="471" width="628" msid="79787650" hostid="261"></div><p>On November 19, a week before Thanksgiving, Fisher headed to Memorial Middle School, where he whipped up dinner - a chicken and shrimp ramen noodle stir fry - and met the families. There, he, Denson, and the rest of the team also handed out bags full of donated turkeys, stuffing, and pie crusts so even more local families could make their own Thanksgiving meals the following week.</p><p>Deeds like this are the essence of Fisher's life in the Orlando area.</p><p>"I come from a big family," he said. "And we've had friends, our friends had friends, but everybody became family. I was taught that without those people around you, there's really no way to go forward, and you need those people to help push you and help mold you."</p>

Chef Terrance Fisher learned the power of cooking and community in Orlando. Now he's using his skills to feed his hometown.

<p><a href="https://www.insider.com/category/the-doers"></a></p><div type="image" title="dancers &amp; dogs" height="1485" width="1980" msid="79749507" hostid="261"></div><ul class="summary-list"><li>Dancers &amp; <keyword id="32596" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="Dogs">Dogs</keyword> was created in 2017 by <keyword id="22383" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="photography">photography</keyword> duo Kelly Pratt and Ian Kreidich as an experiment that brought canines and dancers together.</li><li>Now, the couple creates a holiday version of the project each year — dubbed the "Muttcracker" series — that features adoptable <keyword id="6371668" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="animals">animals</keyword> posing next to St. Louis Ballet dancers in festive costumes.</li><li>Speaking to Insider, Pratt said the holiday project is all about having fun and raising awareness for animal <keyword id="6411790" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Adoption">adoption</keyword>.</li><li>Natalie Thomson of the Stray Rescue of St. Louis, which provides the animals each year, added that the photographs create an "incredible" impact that has resulted in featured animals being adopted.</li><li>This article is part of a series titled <a href="https://www.insider.com/category/the-doers">The Doers</a>.</li></ul><p>Some shelter animals go their entire lives without a permanent place to call home. But dance photographers <a href="https://www.instagram.com/ianandkelly/">Kelly Pratt and Ian Kreidich</a> are helping to change that for some <keyword id="6358374" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="pets">pets</keyword> in Missouri.</p><p>Through their photography project, <a href="https://dancersanddogs.com/">Dancers &amp; Dogs</a>, the couple joins adorable canines with professional ballet dancers for stunning <keyword id="6359897" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="60" keywordseo="Photos">photos</keyword>. And during the holiday season, they take their project a step further by photographing adoptable animals with dancers dressed in festive costumes for a series called the "Muttcracker."</p><p>Insider spoke with Pratt about Dancers &amp; Dogs' mission, helping animals get adopted, and spreading joy during a tumultuous year with the help of some ballerinas and furry friends.</p><div type="image" title="muttcracker photoshoot" height="1500" width="2000" msid="79749508" hostid="261"></div><h2><strong>Dancers &amp; Dogs began in 2017 as a 'random experiment'</strong></h2><p>At the time, Pratt thought it'd be interesting to have dogs pose alongside some of the St. Louis Ballet dancers that she and her husband have frequently worked with since 2014.</p><p>"We were just trying to see if we could make any shapes or interactions that looked interesting," Pratt told Insider. "But then it really caught on from there and we went with it."</p><p>Their first photo shoots went so well that Pratt and Kreidich set a goal to photograph 100 dancers and 100 dogs, turning their small idea into a massive project that extended out of St. Louis. Now, the duo has surpassed their goal - so much so that they've lost track of how many dancers and dogs they've photographed.</p><p>Luckily, Pratt and Kreidich have been able to find dancers and portrait-ready dogs just about everywhere they go.</p><p>Approximately one-third of the dogs featured in the photo project are owned by the dancers they pose with, according to Pratt, and others are local animals that are comfortable being in unfamiliar environments.</p><p>"If we go to New York or something like that, we'll screen for dogs that are trained to do pictures, or dogs that are just able to sit, stay, and be comfortable in the type of setting we're in," Pratt said. "It's not for every single dog. They're not all comfortable being in a studio with strangers."</p><h2><strong>Three years ago, Pratt and Kreidich started a holiday portion of the project playfully dubbed the 'Muttcracker'</strong></h2><p>"One thing we always wanted to do with Dancers &amp; Dogs is incorporate animals who are up for adoption," Pratt told Insider. "We wanted to give back, and we're big supporters of rescue animals, so we wanted to figure out a way to do that." </p><p>Pratt came up with the idea to have their dancer friends pose in festive costumes from "The Nutcracker" while interacting with dogs. And for a heartwarming twist, they'd feature animals from the <a href="https://www.strayrescue.org/">Stray Rescue of St. Louis</a> as their four-legged models.</p><div type="image" title="dancers and dogs muttcracker" height="1601" width="2000" msid="79749509" hostid="261"></div><p>According to Pratt, members of the St. Louis Ballet "volunteer their time for this project every year." The Stray Rescue of St. Louis, on the other hand, provides adoptable animals that they know will be comfortable around studio lighting and equipment. From there, everyone "just tries to have fun," Pratt said.</p><p>"It's really simple," Pratt added. "These aren't as involved as our usual images - we don't have the dancers do crazy moves or anything like that. It's just really to create some cute interactions and have fun."</p><p>Natalie Thomson, the director of marketing for the animal rescue, added that another goal of the "Muttcracker" project is to "help people realize that adoption is truly the best option" when bringing an animal into your life.</p><p>"These beautiful, healthy, happy animals are waiting in shelters across the country for a loving family to give them a chance," Thomson told Insider. "And this photo shoot does a wonderful job of conveying this important message."</p><p>Pratt said every animal featured in the "Muttcracker" photo shoots of 2018 and 2019 was adopted - most within a matter of days. And those featured in this year's photos are on track toward the same fate, according to the photographer. </p><div type="image" title="dancers dogs photos" height="1500" width="2000" msid="79749511" hostid="261"></div><p>Of course, the 2020 photo shoot was a bit different as a result of COVID-19 and other events that made for a rocky year. Still, Pratt, Kreidich, and all others involved knew that their holiday project was too important to their fans - and the featured animals - to skip.</p><p>"Everyone just needs something positive in 2020, so we really just had to do it again," Pratt said of the photo shoot.</p><p>Thomson added that while the Stray Rescue of St. Louis is "always thrilled" to be featured, those working for the donation-based organization knew that "this year would be more important than ever."</p><h2><strong>Pratt says she's especially proud of the fact that Dancers &amp; Dogs can put a smile on people's faces, even during difficult times</strong></h2><p>"We have people now, our followers, who really look forward to it," Pratt told Insider. "It's one of those warm and fuzzy projects that makes people happy and gives them a smile."</p><p>And it's not just viewers who are happier as a result of this project; the featured animals are benefiting just as much, if not more.</p><p>"We've featured some animals that have special needs and may have a harder time finding a home that's right for them," Pratt said, adding that they've featured a dog with a wheelchair, as well as two dogs who have issues with their back legs. "They deserve to have a happy home, and I think they do now."</p><p>Thomson agreed, and described the impact of these photo shoots as nothing less than "incredible." </p><p>"We seek out and take in those who no other organization will help, or would simply euthanize because they are too expensive to heal," Thomson said of the Stray Rescue of St. Louis. "We rescue the abandoned, beaten, bred, fought, injured, terrified, defeated, and betrayed."</p><div type="image" title="dancers &amp; dogs photoshoot" height="1500" width="2000" msid="79749513" hostid="261"></div><p>"The minute animals enter our doors, we look in their eyes and promise them all the second chance they deserve for health, home, commitment, and love, no matter the time or cost," she continued.</p><p><strong>"</strong>Many of the animals in the photos were pulled from death row, recovered from gunshots, survived dog fights, and more," Thomson said. "To see them in this beautiful way really shows just how beautiful and brave they really are."</p><ul class="read-more-links"><li>Read more:</li><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/doers-list-trailblazers-creating-hope-and-inspiring-2020-8">The Doers: 25 trailblazers creating hope and inspiring us</a></li><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/the-doers-jessie-strobels-anti-racist-book-subscription-service-2020-11">Jessie Strobel's book subscription service gives kids and parents access to anti-racism education</a></li><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/the-doers-janice-martellucci-mindfulness-peace-in-schools-2020-8">Janice Martellucci teaches teens the importance of mindfulness. In the midst of a global health issue, mass protests, and catastrophic natural disasters, it's more crucial than ever.</a></li><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/the-doers-lester-walker-empowerment-food-inclusion-ghetto-gastro-2020-8">Ghetto Gastro's Lester Walker, a former chef at NYC's top Michelin-starred restaurants, is signing deals with Nike and Cartier and donating 150,000 meals a week to families in need</a></li></ul>

A couple is lifting spirits this holiday season by photographing adoptable animals with ballet dancers dressed in festive costumes

<p><a href="https://www.insider.com/category/the-doers"></a></p><div type="image" title="No Us Without You" height="940" width="1253" msid="79730281" hostid="261"></div><ul class="summary-list"><li>Damian Diaz and Othón Nolasco launched No Us Without You, a <keyword id="6719261" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="nonprofit">nonprofit</keyword> feeding 1,300 families of undocumented restaurant workers in <keyword id="6354803" type="LOCATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="Los-Angeles">Los Angeles</keyword>, after the pandemic upended the restaurant industry.</li><li>While many undocumented workers have taxes taken out of their paychecks, they are not eligible for unemployment benefits — leaving them even more vulnerable. </li><li>Diaz and Nolasco distribute 130,000 pounds of <keyword id="6181" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Food">food</keyword> a week, even donating turkeys, Christmas trees, and new toys to make the holidays special for the families.</li><li>"There's something that we're trying to uphold besides just food security, and that's the family's dignity and their pride," Nolasco said.</li></ul><p>When most of the US first went into lockdown back in March, <keyword id="34615" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="restaurants">restaurants</keyword> across the country hung up their chairs, closed their doors, and launched GoFundMe pages for <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/restaurant-workers-fear-losing-tips-for-enforcing-covid-19-protocols-2020-12">the millions of waiters, bartenders, and servers</a> who were left without work.</p><p>But Damian Diaz and Othón Nolasco quickly realized that there was an entire group being left out: <a href="https://www.insider.com/guy-fieri-restaurant-employee-relief-fund-millions-of-dollars-raised-2020-5">the undocumented restaurant workers</a>, who were now <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/immigrant-farm-workers-deemed-essential-but-feel-expendable-2020-5">more vulnerable than ever</a>. </p><p>Diaz and Nolasco knew they needed to help. Now, they're feeding 1,300 families every week in Los Angeles through their nonprofit <a href="https://www.nouswithoutyou.la/">No Us Without You</a>. </p><h2>No Us Without You started with just a few families</h2><div type="image" title="No Us Without You" height="1000" width="667" msid="79730284" hostid="261"></div><p>Diaz and Nolasco were running their restaurant and bar consulting group <a href="https://www.valahospitality.la/home">Va'La Hospitality</a> when the pandemic hit, instantly shutting down their projects. They quickly realized that many of their friends in the industry were in the same boat - and weren't going to get as much help.</p><p>"In Los Angeles, the majority of the back of the house staff - the kitchen staff, prep staff, the dishwashers, the porters - are undocumented, either from Mexico or Central America," Nolasco told Insider. "It doesn't matter what kind of restaurant you go to. The backbone of the industry in California is undocumented kitchen staff."</p><p>And while many <a href="https://www.vox.com/2019/3/1/18241692/undocumented-immigrants-pay-state-local-taxes">undocumented workers get taxes taken out of their paychecks</a>, they're not eligible for unemployment benefits.</p><p>"All of our [nonprofit's] families are paying into a system that they cannot benefit from every week," Nolasco said. "There was no stimulus check for them, they didn't get anything. It's hard enough for people with mortgages, family, and rent to survive on unemployment. Imagine having nothing coming in."</p><p>Diaz and Nolasco reached out to 10 of their friends and decided to help. They pooled together $450 from their own money and bought beans, rice, tortillas, and potatoes from a local restaurant supplies store. </p><p>"Nothing glamorous, just good, hearty food," Nolasco said. "We brought it back to our office, laid everything out on the table, and started to figure out how much food you need to support a family." </p><p>And just like that, No Us Without You was born. </p><p>"We started <a href="https://www.instagram.com/nouswithoutyou/?hl=en">an Instagram</a> and started fundraising," Nolasco said. "That first week we fed 30 families. Now we're at 1,300." </p><h2>Diaz and Nolasco currently distribute 130,000 pounds of food a week through No Us Without You</h2><div type="image" title="No Us Without You" height="918" width="1225" msid="79730287" hostid="261"></div><p>Diaz and Nolasco work with nine volunteers - all former bartenders, chefs, barbacks, and liquor reps. </p><p>"For my partner and I, it's pretty much a seven-days-a-week job," Nolasco said. "We have deliveries on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and distribution on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday." </p><p>The distribution of food kits is entirely appointment-based, in part to avoid potential confrontations with ICE, Nolasco said. Diaz - who personally communicates with all 1,300 families - has developed a contactless drop-in system, in addition to a delivery system for families who don't have transportation or are most at-risk for exposure. </p><p>Meanwhile, Nolasco has built an infrastructure that keeps 5,000 people fed a week. He buys food in bulk directly from wholesalers like Sysco and Vesta Foodservices using donation money or grants, which allows him to feed a family of four for just $33 a week. </p><p>"We're constantly applying for different grants to try and supplement our donations, but it's 98% donations from people we do and don't know," Nolasco said. "Beautiful strangers who want to help." </p><p>Both Nolasco and Diaz got their start in Los Angeles cocktail bars. And they've found that the skills they acquired in the hustle and bustle of the restaurant industry have made them well-suited to the world of philanthropy. </p><p>"Anyone who has ever worked in the bar or restaurant industry knows that there's always fires to put out," Nolasco said. "It's never a normal day, something always goes wrong or not according to plan. You have to have a very quick mindset. It's really helped us to not get easily discouraged." </p><h2>No Us Without You ensures that the food stays consistent every week, and that it's culturally familiar for the families</h2><div type="image" title="No Us Without You" height="900" width="1200" msid="79730289" hostid="261"></div><p>"There's something that we're trying to uphold besides just food security, and that's the family's dignity and their pride," Nolasco said. "A lot of these families have never taken any type of aid, and it was important to us to never just give them random things."</p><p>No Us Without You is also expanding beyond food. Diaz and Nolasco have launched a job placement and tutoring program, and are partnering with different organizations so that they can also provide children's books, diapers, and baby formula. </p><p>They're also making sure the holidays are still special for the families they're helping support.</p><p>The organization distributed 1,300 turkeys on Thanksgiving, in addition to hundreds of other pre-cooked meals. Diaz and Nolasco are also donating new toys through <a href="https://www.planethope.org/">Planet Hope</a> and <a href="https://www.myhomestate.com/">HomeState</a> to all the children in their program, and will be supplying not only Christmas trees but also tamales - which are an <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2018/12/christmas-tamales-staple-latinos-holidays/578944/">important part of many Latinos' holiday traditions</a>.</p><p>"Everyone we know and love in our industry has helped us at one point throughout the last nine months," Nolasco said. "We're very fortunate to have these friends." </p><h2>While the restaurant industry has rallied together during the pandemic, <a href="https://www.insider.com/how-to-help-restaurants-during-coronavirus-pandemic">it continues to see little aid</a> from the government </h2><p>"There's no rent relief, there's no viable solution to restaurants being the scapegoat and forgotten about during the pandemic," Nolasco said. "How are they going to survive winter? Our government - federal, local, and state - just can't figure out how to help the people who need it." </p><p>Undocumented workers in California were <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/california-offers-500-cash-payments-to-undocumented-immigrants-2020-5">eligible to apply for a one-time $500 check</a> after Gov. Gavin Newsom created a $125 million relief fund in May. But there has been no additional aid since, and California restaurants recently had to shutter all indoor and outdoor dining again due to spiking cases - sending many workers back into unemployment, if they had ever even left. </p><p>But there is still No Us Without You, and Nolasco said he is most proud that he's been "able to feed those that fed us for years." </p><p>And even when the pandemic ends, he knows that the nonprofit is still going to be his priority for years to come. </p><p>"At the end of the day, we're just feeding families, we're trying to help mothers and fathers feed their children, and we're proud to do that," he said. "Our moms are proud of us. And if mom's proud of us, we're doing something good."</p><p>You can learn more about No Us Without You <a href="https://www.nouswithoutyou.la/">here</a>.</p><ul class="read-more-links"><li>Read more:</li><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/how-to-help-restaurants-during-coronavirus-pandemic">Restaurant owners are calling the coronavirus a 'once-in-a-century' disaster. Here's how you can help your favorite places survive.</a></li><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/restaurant-closed-due-to-coronavirus-donates-thousands-of-chicken-nuggets-2020-3">An NYC restaurant donated more than 800 pounds of chicken nuggets after shutting down due to the coronavirus pandemic</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/restaurant-workers-fear-losing-tips-for-enforcing-covid-19-protocols-2020-12">Restaurant workers say they're afraid to enforce COVID-19 safety precautions because they'll lose out on tips</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/immigrant-farm-workers-deemed-essential-but-feel-expendable-2020-5">Unauthorized immigrants who work on America's farms have been deemed 'essential,' but they say they feel expendable</a></li></ul>

Former bartenders Damian Diaz and Othón Nolasco are feeding 1,300 families of undocumented restaurant workers left jobless by the pandemic

<p><a href="https://www.insider.com/category/the-doers"></a></p><div type="image" title="strobel lede" height="900" width="1200" msid="79533370" hostid="261"></div><ul class="summary-list"><li>Jessie Strobel founded Speak Up Book Club Inc. following the death of George Floyd. </li><li>The subscription-based service offers <keyword id="5050" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="books">books</keyword> written by Black authors, as well as educational materials to help families create change in their communities. </li><li>For every subscription Speak Up gets, the company donates a book to a child in need, and they've even created a special holiday box that celebrates different cultures. </li><li>"If the books that you are reading don't represent your children or your community, it's really a disadvantage to them," Strobel told Insider.</li></ul><p>Jessie Strobel lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota, with her husband and two sons — just under a mile from the site of George Floyd's death. </p><p>Strobel, 39, also lived in the area when <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ap-a-look-at-whats-next-in-the-jamar-clark-case-2016-3">Jamar Clark</a> and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/philando-castile-shooting-video-dash-cam-2017-6">Philando Castile</a> were killed by police officers in Minnesota.</p><p>"I didn't do anything after" their deaths, she told Insider. </p><p>But she said watching protesters march past her house made the collective grief and injustice of <a href="https://www.insider.com/judge-dismissed-3rd-degree-murder-charge-against-derek-chauvin-2020-10">Floyd's death at the hands of a police officer</a> harder to look away from.</p><p>"Whether you think your kids are watching you or not, they are," Strobel said. "I wanted to be sure that my kids knew that if they wanted to, they could make a difference, and you need to work hard to do that."</p><p>Strobel knew she had to take action.</p><h2>Strobel founded Speak Up Book Club Inc., a nonprofit book subscription service dedicated to educating families about race</h2><p>After Floyd's death, Strobel saw that there was an <keyword id="6355445" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="education">education</keyword> gap when it came to race and racism. </p><p>"I realized after George Floyd that there weren't really resources out there for families" hoping to learn more about racism and bias, Strobel told Insider. "And if the books that you are reading don't represent your children or your community, it's really a disadvantage to them."</p><p>That thinking led Strobel to found <a href="https://www.speakupbookclubinc.com/">Speak Up Book Club Inc.</a>, a book subscription service dedicated to providing families with books that help them understand and confront racism, in June 2020. </p><div type="image" title="untitled(19of30)" height="1332" width="1776" msid="79533371" hostid="261"></div><p>"Our mission is to encourage dialogue and action through educating parents and children on tough topics such as racism and white privilege," the company's <a href="https://www.speakupbookclubinc.com/">website</a> states. "Each month we choose an engaging book your child will love, provide new resources, action plans, activities, and crafts that help parents facilitate discussions of these hard topics."</p><p>The accompanying material provides families with options for initial steps they can take to be anti-racist that go beyond books, whether it be through joining organizations or by simply taking their kids to more diverse parks. </p><p>Each box costs $30. Speak Up donates a book to a child in need for each subscription it gets.</p><p>The Speak Up team is also offering a special <a href="https://www.speakupbookclubinc.com/subscriptions/p/holiday-box-preorder-yj8f6">Holiday Box</a> for December. The box costs $24.99 and has four books instead of one, each of which educates readers about holidays from different cultures.</p><p>"I grew up in the '80s where we didn't talk about many holidays besides Christmas or Thanksgiving," Strobel said, and she doesn't want kids today to have the same experience. </p><p>"We really want to make it affordable to anybody that wants this education," Strobel said.</p><p>Strobel partnered with her friend and former colleague Lola Ayisat Oshodi to bring the idea to life, and volunteers make the boxes happen each month. Speak Up was awaiting its nonprofit status at the time of writing. </p><h2>Volunteers review the books that go into the subscription boxes, and almost all of them are written by Black authors</h2><p>The company provides subscription boxes for three age ranges: infant to 4-year-olds, 4 to 8-year-olds, and 10-year-olds and up.</p><p>Almost all of the Speak Up books are written by Black authors, and the books come from locally-owned and BIPOC-owned bookstores.</p><p>"Black authors, in general, have been underrepresented, misrepresented, or invisible in children's literature," Strobel said of why the company focuses on Black authors. "We just want to do our part to have those voices heard."</p><div type="image" title="DSC08606" height="1333" width="1777" msid="79533372" hostid="261"></div><p>The Speak Up team consists of Strobel, Oshodi, and six other volunteers who select the books that go into the boxes.</p><p>Strobel said that the team spends "countless hours" vetting the books for the boxes. </p><p>"Usually, we try to pick a theme for each month," she said. "They'll usually come up with three or four different books that fit that theme." The group will then discuss the options and nominate the book that they think would be the best fit. </p><div type="image" title="untitled(15of43)" height="1333" width="1777" msid="79533374" hostid="261"></div><p>The company also allows customers to nominate kids in need to receive a free book through its website year-round.</p><p>"I would just give them to everyone if I could," Strobel said of why free books are part of the company's business model. </p><h2>Founding Speak Up has shown Strobel how much she still has to learn about anti-racism and her own privilege</h2><p>Strobel has degrees in psychology and social work, and education has been a common thread throughout her career. She's run afterschool programs for homeless and at-risk students, and she has taught in preschools and Montessori schools.</p><p>But Strobel told Insider that as she's explored new books through the company, she's realized how much she still has to learn about anti-racism and her own privilege.</p><div type="image" title="DSC07485" height="1333" width="1777" msid="79533379" hostid="261"></div><p>"I can't tell you how much I learned from just reading some of these books," Strobel said. "It was quite embarrassing. For someone that thought that I probably had pretty good knowledge of the subject matter, there was so much I didn't know."</p><p>Strobel said her own children's bookshelf has changed dramatically since Speak Up was founded. "We've always had really open conversations about everything, but now we're quite more intentional with what books come into the house and which ones we read," she said. Her youngest son's favorite book was <a href="https://www.insider.com/ibram-x-kendi-new-childrens-book-antiracist-baby-2020-6">Ibram X. Kendi's "Antiracist Baby"</a> at the time of writing. </p><p>"It's an ongoing journey," Strobel added of her anti-racism efforts. "There's work to be done every day."</p><h2>Strobel also hopes the work she's doing with Speak Up can help white people be better allies to the Black community</h2><p>"For so long, people just didn't want to ruffle feathers," Strobel told Insider of how white people often approach racism."But if someone's a racist, call it out. I don't care if they're your friends or your family. Tell them that they're wrong."</p><p>She hopes Speak Up's work can help white people be better allies to the Black community.</p><div type="image" title="untitled(38of43)" height="1196" width="1595" msid="79533382" hostid="261"></div><p>Strobel is trying to put her money where her mouth is by getting involved in her community with her family. "With my kids' school, we do the equity and justice committee," she said. "We sit on two board meetings. You want change to start at your level."</p><p>For Strobel, her work all comes back to what she wants her kids to bring to the world.</p><p>"I want to raise good humans," she said. "They can be whoever they want to be, and love whoever they want to. They just need to be good people."</p><p>You can learn more about Speak Up Book Club <a href="https://www.speakupbookclubinc.com/">here</a>.</p><ul class="read-more-links"><li>Read more:</li><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/doers-list-trailblazers-creating-hope-and-inspiring-2020-8">The Doers: 25 trailblazers creating hope and inspiring us</a></li><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/the-doers-janice-martellucci-mindfulness-peace-in-schools-2020-8">Janice Martellucci teaches teens the importance of mindfulness. In the midst of a global health issue, mass protests, and catastrophic natural disasters, it's more crucial than ever.</a></li><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/the-doers-activist-raquel-willis-black-trans-lives-2020-8">Meet Raquel Willis, the activist who made history with a powerful speech for Black trans lives in front of 15,000 people — and won't stop until the world is listening</a></li><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/the-doers-lester-walker-empowerment-food-inclusion-ghetto-gastro-2020-8">Ghetto Gastro's Lester Walker, a former chef at NYC's top Michelin-starred restaurants, is using deals with Nike and Cartier to donate 150,000 meals a week to families in need</a></li></ul>

Jessie Strobel's book subscription service gives kids and parents access to anti-racism education

<div type="image" title="Doers Emma Robbins_Headshot_DigDeep" height="1080" width="1616" msid="79501135" hostid="261"></div><ul class="summary-list"><li>One in three homes on the <a href="https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/1b4dc0d978c74d97a559e615730d4cd4">Navajo Nation</a> don't have running <keyword id="15300" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="60" keywordseo="Water">water</keyword> at home.</li><li>That can make isolating and sheltering in place during the <keyword id="1754604" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="coronavirus">coronavirus</keyword> pandemic near impossible.</li><li>Emma Robbins and her team at the Navajo Water Project have been dispatching hundreds of water storage tanks that can hold a month's worth of water to houses across the reservation.</li><li>This Giving Tuesday, the Navajo Water Project is fundraising for two new $150,000 trucks to deliver water to those tanks. Donations will be matched 100%. </li><li>"We're not just these unicorns," she said. "There are a lot of amazing people who are doing the work." </li><li>This article is part of a series titled <a href="https://www.insider.com/category/the-doers">The Doers</a>.</li></ul><p>If young Emma Robbins ever got thirsty while visiting her grandparents, she drank soda from a can — the syrupy sweet kind that was off-limits back home at her parents' house, where water flowed freely from the faucet. </p><p>"Some of the first Navajo words that I learned was how to say, 'Can I have a pop?'" she said, remembering how "exciting" it felt to ask her grandma for a drink in that way. "It was something that my grandparents always had. I think it was because it's like, 'if you want a beverage, that's what you're going to drink, because you're conserving water.'"</p><p>Robbins and her grandparents lived on the Navajo Nation, a swath of indigenous land larger than West Virginia, which stretches over an area of the southwestern US due east of the Grand Canyon, touching Arizona, Utah, and New Mexico. Robbins, who grew up in Tuba City, the largest community on the reservation, had a running shower, and a tap at home. Things were different for her grandparents, who lived about 25 miles South of the city in Cameron, and had to make careful decisions about where each drop of water went every day, from washing the dishes to feeding their animals. </p><p>Their situation was not unusual then, and still today, <a href="https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/1b4dc0d978c74d97a559e615730d4cd4">one in three homes</a> don't have piped water service on the Navajo Nation. </p><p>"Any issue with native nations and the federal government, things like <a href="https://www.epa.gov/Navajo-nation-uranium-cleanup">infrastructure, like water</a>, electricity, it's definitely rooted in broken treaties," Robbins said.</p><h2>Robbins is an artist and a water-bearer on the Navajo Nation</h2><p>Half Jewish, half-Navajo, Robbins affectionately calls herself a "Nava-Jew."</p><p>As she grew older, she moved off the reservation to go to art school, and began working in a commercial art gallery in Chicago. It was at that point, in May 2016, that she felt called back to work on the Navajo Nation, where she grew up.</p><div type="image" title="Doers Emma Robbins Mia_and_Family.JPG" height="1700" width="1255" msid="79501138" hostid="261"></div><p>"It sort of hit a point where there was a lot going on in the world that I realized I really need to use my voice and my platform as an artist and as someone who has deep connections to the land and the reservation and fight for clean water," she said.</p><p>Robbins now <a href="https://www.navajowaterproject.org/covid19-response">directs the Navajo Water Project for Dig Deep</a>, a nonprofit bringing running water to people across the United States who lack access.</p><p>She has made it her mission over the past four-and-a-half years to improve water access on the reservation she's from, by installing nearly 300 below-ground, 1,200-gallon water tanks, which connect people's homes on the Navajo Nation to taps and solar panels, providing them with a one month supply of running water, both hot and cold (and enough electricity to charge up their phones). The water source is then replenished each month, by Dig Deep's traveling water truck.</p><p>This Giving Tuesday, December 1, the organization is raising money for two new $150,000 trucks, doubling every dollar donated with a 1:1 matching donation. It's part of the group's <a href="https://www.navajowaterproject.org/">holiday drive to bring running water</a> to 100 new families on the reservation. </p><h2>Bringing water home during the pandemic is challenging</h2><div type="image" title="Thimblez" height="2800" width="2000" msid="79501140" hostid="261"></div><p>During the pandemic, Robbins had to stop installing hot water systems in homes.</p><p>The number of coronavirus cases over the spring and early summer on the <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/18/us/navajo-nation-infection-rate-trnd/index.html">Navajo Nation skyrocketed</a>, with a case rate per capita that at one point topped hard-hit New York City. </p><p>"We're not able to come together and do things like taking care of one another," Robbins said. "We can't work in families' homes. We can't interact with community members. It's just not safe."</p><p>And yet, her work is more pressing now than ever. It is near impossible for families on the reservation to quarantine, isolate, or shelter in place properly if they have to run out and stock up on water bottles at Walmart or the grocery store every few weeks. </p><p>Robbins and her team <a href="https://www.navajowaterproject.org/covid">distributed 262,000 gallons</a> of donated bottled water to 30,000 families during the early days of the pandemic. But she knew that plastic-heavy system couldn't last.</p><div type="image" title="navajo nation coronavirus" height="1467" width="2200" msid="79501143" hostid="261"></div><p>"It's not sustainable and it's not a long-term solution," she said.</p><h2>Getting creative to find COVID-safe solutions</h2><p>Now, Robbins and her team at Dig Deep, working alongside other community partners in <a href="https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/1b4dc0d978c74d97a559e615730d4cd4">the Navajo Nation COVID-19 Water Access Coordination Group</a> (WACG), are finding COVID-safe ways to bring more people on the Nation water access at home, for the first time, working with the Indian <keyword id="6354750" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="health">Health</keyword> Service, tribal officials, NGOs, and universities.</p><p>"It's not just water access during COVID, it's a long-term project. And it's been really cool, because as someone from the res, I've never seen that before," she said.</p><p>One solution she and her team at Dig Deep developed to help families during the pandemic is dispatching 275 gallon, above-ground water storage tanks to people's yards, which can be refilled safely, without any face-to-face contact.</p><p>"By the end of the year, we'll do 840 of these," she said. That could benefit more than 10% of the population — upwards of 3,360 people on a Nation of roughly 332,000.</p><p>It's a major change to the Navajo Water Project system, bringing tanks to many more different areas of the reservation than before, and much more quickly, too. </p><div type="image" title="Doers Emma Robbins _Field work_DigDeep" height="1508" width="2011" msid="79501145" hostid="261"></div><h2>Holiday drive to reach 100 more families</h2><p>The success with the above-ground tanks has created a new problem, though. Dig Deep now needs two new water tankers to be able to deliver the monthly water allotments to the tanks which are now spread far across the reservation — something they hope to fix with their donation drive on December 1. </p><p>Because of a provision baked into the pandemic CARES Act, up to $300 of any <a href="https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/how-the-cares-act-changes-deducting-charitable-contributions">donations made can be deducted</a> from a person's taxable income this year, without itemizing, if they want to contribute to the cause. </p><p>"Just making sure that people can shelter in place is such a huge thing," Robbins said. "Not having running water is not something that is only during COVID. It's 24-7, 365."</p><h2>'We're not just these unicorns'</h2><p>Robbins wants people to know she's not unique. There are plenty of others out there bringing water, and other essential services, back home to the Nation. </p><p>"When we talk about 'doers,' like myself and our team members ... we're not just these unicorns," she said. "There are a lot of amazing people who are doing the work."</p><p>Robbins younger sister, for example, now works for the tribal government on the Nation, in the land department.</p><p>"We are a <a href="https://scholarcommons.scu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1106&amp;context=historical-perspectivesives">matrilineal society</a>," she said. "I've always been taught this is such an important role, to care for your sisters and to care for your family, and your elders. It's kind of this instinctual thing where we step up and say, 'this is a role of power.'"</p>

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Former bartenders Damian Diaz and Othón Nolasco are feeding 1,300 families of undocumented restaurant workers left jobless by the pandemic

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Jessie Strobel's book subscription service gives kids and parents access to anti-racism education

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Navajo artist Emma Robbins is bringing tap water and solar power to hundreds of homes that never had it before

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