We set out to launch on Earth Day but Mother Nature had other plans.
In late February 2023, the San Bernardino Mountains experienced an unprecedented amount of snow during a blizzard. To put it into perspective, we received 110 inches in just a few days, which is typically the amount of snowfall for an entire winter season. The snow load devastated our communities, destroying property, trapping people in their homes, and cutting many off from food, medicine, and crucial supplies for weeks.
We created the co-op to provide access to affordable, healthy food, and this crisis triggered us to take action. Together, we decided to mobilize as an organization to provide mutual aid and disaster relief support. We launched a GoFundMe with a mandate to raise funds for disaster relief and recovery for our communities. To date, the GoFundMe has raised over $60,000, and the funds have been dispersed to nonprofits across the mountain including Operation Provider, Hearts & Lives, Mountain Homeless Coalition, Rebuilding Together, the Mountain Communities Boys & Girls Club, and the Rim Communities Resource Alliance.
During the storm, we partnered with mutual aid organizations across the mountain and operated food distribution sites at Mountain Life Supply Co in Arrowbear and Spade & Spatula in Blue Jay. While the storm may have passed, our support for our community has not. We continue to operate the Free Store by MPC out of Cedar Glen.
Born in a Blizzard
The Free Store
by MPC
Lauri Carleton, a founding member of Mountain Provisions, secured the old gas station in Cedar Glen as a command center for Search and Rescue during the early days of the blizzard. It was used by CAL FIRE to map out the area and knock on doors to ensure that people were safe and had the supplies they needed.
That location eventually evolved into the Free Store by MPC. Mountain Provisions has used the space as a distribution point for the community to come and get the supplies they needed as we all recovered.
Since March 2023, we’ve kept the Free Store stocked with fresh produce, shelf-stable goods, gently used clothing, and other supplies. Together with a group of volunteers, we’ve been there to keep the lights on and our community fed.
Mountain Provisions Cooperative is an idea that took many hands to sow. Founding member and treasurer, Holly Walker, along with her partner Alexander Vallejos, distributed farm-fresh produce to the mountain with their company, Arrowhead Farms Direct. Demand grew too quickly, and the duo decided to focus their efforts on other endeavors.
Noticing the loss of access to fresh food on the mountain, founding member Bev Eskew suggested that Arrowhead Farms Direct reform into a cooperative. The idea grew legs at a kitchen table, of all places. Maggie Eno's kitchen table to be exact. Maggie Eno, founding member, and chair, along with a small group, hammered out plans and logistics that would eventually become Mountain Provisions Cooperative. Word about the co-op got out, our ranks grew, and our board blossomed into what it is today.
