On The Emergency Practice of Mutual Aid
A line outside of Goodwin’s Market (their roof collapsed due to the snow) where Mountain Area Mutual Aid was providing food and other necessities.
In early March the San Bernardino Mountains were hit with a historic nine feet of snow. As two of the nearly 60,000 residents up here we were no stranger to weather but what was supposed to be a big last-minute storm of the season quickly turned into emergency practice in the principles of Mutual Aid.
By Thursday March 2 the storm had passed but the roads were completely impassable. People struggled to dig themselves out of their homes, and calls for help began to grow. To make matters worse, the County was completely disorganized and overrun with 911 calls. My comrade Eva and I recognized that the government and capitalist systems were quickly failing to provide for everyone's basic needs, and that Mutual Aid was the way forward.
On that first day, people hiked into town looking for food only to discover that our only grocery store had collapsed under the weight of the snow. With no access to food, my comrades from Mountain Area Mutual Aid and I took it upon ourselves to establish a Free Store with nothing more than a table, a pop-up tent, and several bags of groceries from our own pantries. Standing in the parking lot I briefly explained the principles of mutual aid to my neighbors there, emphasizing that “if each of us brought what we could spare and allowed others to take what they needed, we could weather this storm together and ensure that no one went without.” What began as a small-scale operation soon grew into a robust food network, as people across the mountain set up their own sites, and others offered their skills to create flyers, social media posts, and even a website and database to help us stay organized.
In time roads opened for limited travel, and our team of community-led volunteers worked tirelessly to distribute donations from comrades, IE DSA, Redlands Free Market and our friends at World Central Kitchen. We braved dangerous roads and hiked through towering piles of snow to deliver fresh food and firewood to those who needed it most. We helped seniors get their medicine, we dug people out of their homes, and did our best to make sure everyone, especially the most vulnerable, got the help they needed. While the Sheriff promised to go door to door with help that never truly materialized, neighbors and comrades were doing the work of providing for the general welfare and far outpacing the machinery of the State.
IE-DSA members, friends and neighbors in Mountain Area Mutual Aid (MAMA).
To us, mutual aid is more than just a crisis response - it is a revolutionary act. It's about raising awareness of an alternative to the exploitative nature of racial capitalism, recognizing that our collective well-being is interdependent, and that we can and should foster cohesive, resilient communities that prioritize the needs of all.
Despite the snow melting, our commitment remains steadfast. Every Saturday for the foreseeable future, we will continue to host distributions. Through our interactions with our neighbors, we have learned that many have lost their savings, their homes or their jobs as a result of the storm. We understand that the need remains high, and we will continue to provide support for as long as we are able.
In the end, the establishment of the emergency food bank in Crestline was a testament to the efficacy of mutual aid. This experience revealed that when the working-class unites as a community, we can accomplish remarkable feats. Although we recognize that climate disasters will continue to come in our lifetimes, this brief yet inspiring glimpse into what is possible has given us hope for a more equitable and just future for all.
If you would like to help, we are on Instagram and Facebook. We are still in need of more volunteers if you're local and we are still accepting food donations and contributions to our Venmo.