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This story originally appeared in the Jackson Free Press. It was added to the Mississippi Free Press website in 2025.
Note that any opinions expressed in legacy Jackson Free Press stories do not reflect a position of the Mississippi Free Press or necessarily of its staff and board members.

Dear Business Leaders,

Working Together Jackson is a non-partisan, broad-based organization with a mission to strengthen institutions by developing solutions to the issues facing our community. WTJ institutions, including People’s Advocacy Institute and Stewpot Community Services, have partnered with volunteers from the University of Mississippi Medical Center to feed and support vulnerable families during the COVID-19 crisis. Our goal is to create Covid Care Kits to deliver to people who are resource poor or elderly. Covid Care Kits would be weekly bundles of hygiene supplies including soap, hand sanitizer, household disinfectant, toilet paper, tissue and paper towels coupled with printed, up-to-date medical information each week.

We write to ask you to donate a portion of these materials—soap, hand sanitizer, household disinfectant, toilet paper, tissue and paper towels—from your restaurant, hotel or other type of business to help make these kits, understanding they may not be in use at this time. We can arrange for safe pick-up of these materials from your respective locations if you give us an address and instructions. Simply respond to this email if you can help.

Please note that Working Together Jackson is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Donations to this effort are tax deductible using TAX ID Number# 90-0780418.

Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

Chevon Chatman, Senior Organizer, Working Together Jackson

Mississippi native Donna Ladd and partner Todd Stauffer founded the Jackson Free Press in 2002 in the capital city. The heavily awarded local newspaper did many investigations heralded across the state and nation and served as a paper of record due to its diversity, inclusion, in-depth reporting and deep connection to readers and dedication to narrative change in and about Mississippi. In 2022, the nonprofit Mississippi Free Press, founded by Ladd and JFP Associate Publisher Kimberly Griffin in 2020, purchased the journalism assets and archives of the Jackson Free Press. A Google grant through AAN Publishers enabled Newspack's integration of the JFP archives into the Mississippi Free Press website to become part of a more searchable archive of recent Mississippi history and essential journalism.