On Saturday, July 11th, a fast-moving storm ripped through Clark Park towards the end of the West Philly Bizarre vendor market. Some of the 73 vendors made it out in time; many were stuck in the rain, working to protect their inventory, equipment, and safety. Some vendors lost most, if not all, of their inventory - from books and art to decor and furniture. It was heartbreaking to see waterlogged books, art facedown in mud, displays swept away, and debris in the grass.
Many of our vendors are low-income and/or from marginalized communities. They rely on vending income to pay their rent and put food on the table. The loss of inventory and equipment could set them back hundreds of dollars and prevent them from vending again. Any amount helps!
We are asking vendors who have non-recoverable losses to fill out a form that indicates their total loss, a description of the items, and their financial need on a scale of 1-5. We will distribute all funds to affected vendors based on their need. (Higher need = higher percentage of funds distributed.)
We will start taking donations on GoFundMe.
Here you can find the spreadsheet where we are tracking vendor needs: