The Corvallis Really Really Free Market (RRFM), a local mutual aid and community outreach group distributing free basic needs and care items, and educational resources for activists and organizers, etc. They are still in need of winter wear and supplies to provide to folks in the area while the weather’s still cold. In particular, organizers are looking for people to bring more donations like tents, sleeping bags, thick socks, rain boots, and more to their weekly outdoor markets, which take place every Friday at Central Park from 12 – 4 p.m.
“RRFM is a mutual aid event where people bring in their resources they no longer need and offer them to the community, where folks can take anything they may need or want for free,” reads a recent Corvallis RRFM zine. “It’s a political movement, set to start discussions and raise questions about alternative economic systems.”
It continues, “We believe that resources needed for survival – Water, Food, Clothing, Hygiene, and Housing – shouldn’t be commodified, as in they shouldn’t be locked behind a paywall. These are needed for survival and sustainability, and our current economic system not only has wasteful practices, but also prioritizes profits over people.”
At these events, Corvallis RRFM organizers encourage people to not just drop off items that they would like to donate, but, if possible, stay with their items until they are either taken by other community members or until the event ends, at which point they can bring their items back or talk to organizers about taking some of them off their hands.
For this latest supply request, organizers also encourage people to help set up donation drives – and, more broadly (and more long-term), their own RRFM events to help reach more people in the community struggling with unmet needs.
“The best part of the RRFM is that anyone can organize it!” reads the zine. “We have our outdoor event every Friday, but others can start theirs whenever and wherever they want. There are many in Salem, Portland, Eugene, and all across the world.”
There is also an RRFM in Albany, a growing extension of the Corvallis RRFM whose current markets are every first Wednesday at Monteith Riverpark from 1 – 4 p.m. and every third Wednesday at the Linn-Benton Community College (LBCC) campus, also from 1 – 4 p.m.
Corvallis RRFM organizers can provide RRFM starter kits for folks who are interested in setting up their own, but aren’t entirely sure where or how to start.
For questions about donations, ways to support and/or get involved with the Corvallis RRFM, etc., you can contact organizers over email at RRFMCorvallis@gmail.com or by sending a direct message to their Instagram account, which you can follow to keep track of any activities and/or updates.
Know Your Rights Listening Sessions: Next week, Legal Aid Services of Oregon (LASO), a legal services program “with a mission to achieve justice for the low-income communities of Oregon”, will be hosting two “Know Your Rights” listening sessions and presentations in Corvallis for people experiencing homelessness.
LASO serves and works with Oregonians in poverty experiencing a variety of legal problems, including helping survivors of domestic violence escape abuse and providing safe homes for their children; working with financially struggling families who need legal help with debts and utility bills; helping tenants living in substandard housing; protecting the rights of people experiencing homelessness and helping them get access to needed services; etc.
At these sessions, LASO attorneys will be discussing unhoused people’s rights and what help is available. The next session will be hosted at the Corvallis Daytime Drop-In Center (CDDC), a local resource, care, and navigation hub for people experiencing poverty and homelessness, on Monday, March 20, at 11 a.m. The final session will be hosted on Thursday, March 23, at 5 p.m. at First Congressional United Church of Christ, half an hour before Stone Soup Corvallis, Inc. meals are served. Both sessions will cover the same information.
“Resist Transphobia in Oregon” Speak-In Postponed: The Oregon State University Queer Studies program and Diversity & Cultural Engagement (DCE) have decided to postpone their speak-in on Resisting Transphobia in Oregon – a series of on-campus events that initially occurred in February – to a date in Spring Term that is yet to be determined. The decision arose as a result of the continuous onslaught of anti-trans bills being proposed and passed in multiple states across the U.S., and the recognition of how this news is impacting trans folks in the OSU and Corvallis communities.
“Poet, performance artist, and activist Tricia Hersey states, ‘Rest is a form of resistance because it disrupts and pushes back against capitalism and white supremacy,’ and rest slows you down and turns you inward to heal from state violence,” reads an OSU Queer Studies Instagram post. “With Tennessee just passing anti-trans legislation, our community is struck by yet another wave of devastation. We acknowledge that so many of us are at capacity, especially at this time in the term. With this in mind, we invite our ralliers to rest, and we will reconvene in the Spring.”
The teach-in will be facilitated by OSU students and faculty, who will discuss the manifold implications and violences of the proposal and passage of these legislative attacks. Until then, they urge impacted and vulnerable communities to take Hersey’s call to heart.
“The fight is far from over but in prioritizing our well-being and resisting grind culture, we can continue to fight another day.”
By Emilie Ratcliff
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