‘Harvesting’ food, clothing for vulnerable
bodies the importance of building a better, kind food system,” said Reilly Brock, associate creative director of online grocer Imperfect Foods, which itself addresses food waste by sourcing items that don’t look perfect — asymmetrical, scarred, too big, too small. It’s donated over 1.6 million pounds of food to White Pony in the pasts two years.
“Attacking hunger is obviously a really complex issue,” Brock said. “They’ve taken a holistic, wholeperson approach that we respect.”
White Pony also recovers clothing — unsold, brandnew overstock, outofseason and returns that might otherwise end up in landfill — as well as diapers, backtoschool supplies, jewelry and highend makeup.
“We just received 70 pallets from Ralph Lauren,” Birge said. “Two months ago we got 52 pallets from Bombas socks. We’re trying to get the word out: Please don’t put it in a dumpster; give it to us.”
Prior to the pandemic, White Pony both donated clothes to nonprofits and ran a general store that hosted free popup boutiques to distribute the clothing, educational toys and books.
Now for inperson distribution, it offers drivethrough events where clients of a nonprofit can arrive in their car, tell a White Pony runner their family’s sizes and ages, and have bundles of appropriate apparel waiting for them at the other end of the line. For Father’s Day, it hosted a drivethrough at a Bay Point recreation center that drew about 200 dads referred by local social services agencies, who had their cars loaded with food, chocolate and rightsized clothing.
Cindy Holland, program coordinator for Black Infant Health in Contra Costa, said White Pony supports her group’s purpose of trying to bridge health disparities for Black mothers. Her county program has a tight budget, so donations from White Pony allow them to offer participating moms essential items and some fun things.
“They make lovely care packages with backpacks for the infants,” she said. “They give so many nice baby essentials: diaper bag/baby backpack, diapers, wipes, baby toiletries, several outfits, blankets, books, bibs, bottles. It has been such a godsend, because a lot of our moms have to choose between, ‘Am I going to buy diapers or pay the PG&E bill?’ ”
For Mother’s Day, White Pony sponsored a day in Hidden Valley Park in Martinez to celebrate and nourish mothers in Black Infant Health, with stations for yoga, bubble blowing and journaling. It curated gift bags for moms and their families with jewelry, makeup, skincare products and clothing.
Antioch resident Deja Gibson, who has a 4month old and three older children, attended the Mother’s Day event and said it was uplifting. She had to leave her job as a hospicecertified nursing assistant to watch the kids during COVID, so she has her hands full.
“Not only are they welcoming, they make you feel so important,” she said. “Me and my kids had a ball. It was emotional. I felt pampered. I felt almost like a celebrity.”