Disclosure:
Please move forward with completing the registration below if you have read and agree to the following statements:
1.You are responsible for contacting the Reach From The Roots email if you will not be in attendance to the community service event.
2. Photos and videos will be taken during the event, at random, and your image may end up on one or multiple of our social media platforms.
3. Profanity, tobacco-use, drug-use, alcohol-consumption, and fighting will not be tolerated at any of our events. We reserve the right to ask you to leave if you perform any of these activities or any unlisted activities that may represent the organization in a poor or negative light.
4. Masks must be worn for the duration of the event. Gloves must be worn, if you are serving food and/or beverages.
5. Without your electronic signature, your registration will remain incomplete.
Disclosure:
Please move forward with completing the registration below if you have read and agree to the following statements:
1.You are responsible for contacting the Reach From The Roots email if you will not be in attendance to the community service event.
2. Photos and videos will be taken during the event, at random, and your image may end up on one or multiple of our social media platforms.
3. Profanity, tobacco-use, drug-use, alcohol-consumption, and fighting will not be tolerated at any of our events. We reserve the right to ask you to leave if you perform any of these activities or any unlisted activities that may represent the organization in a poor or negative light.
4. Masks must be worn for the duration of the event. Gloves must be worn, if you are serving food and/or beverages.
5. Without your electronic signature, your registration will remain incomplete.
Disclosure:
Please move forward with completing the registration below if you have read and agree to the following statements:
1.You are responsible for contacting the Reach From The Roots email if you will not be in attendance to the community service event.
2. Photos and videos will be taken during the event, at random, and your image may end up on one or multiple of our social media platforms.
3. Profanity, tobacco-use, drug-use, alcohol-consumption, and fighting will not be tolerated at any of our events. We reserve the right to ask you to leave if you perform any of these activities or any unlisted activities that may represent the organization in a poor or negative light.
4. Masks must be worn for the duration of the event. Gloves must be worn, if you are serving food and/or beverages.
5. Without your electronic signature, your registration will remain incomplete.
.png){kind=small}
Reach From The Roots
When, Why, & How We Started
Reach From The Roots collaborates with communities, and community members, with the intention to decrease rates of meal insecurity among the homeless population, provide beneficial resources to low-income households, and increase the quality of education for inner city children. This organization is designed to better the lives of community members through intentional community development and outreach projects and initiatives.
When
In 2016, what is now known as "Reach From The Roots" was named "Operation Black Gurl". It was ran single-handedly ran by Zhada Stamps, who is also the Founder of Reach From The Roots. In the beginning of 2020, Stamps organized a city-wide grocery distribution for the city of Paterson, NJ. The name of this project was "The Be A Blessing Tour" and it provided free boxes of groceries and toiletries to over 50 families throughout the city. While one of Operation Black Gurl's missions was to make a positive impact on the community, it wasn't the entire focus. At the end of the Be A Blessing Tour, Stamps decided to completely change the name, face, and purpose of the organization.
Why
Having been an Africana World Studies major at William Paterson University, through Stamps' studies, she had to do thorough research on grassroots organizations. Some grassroots organizations include the National Urban League, The National Congress of Black Women, and Black Lives Matter. This partially inspired the new name "Reach From The Roots". The purpose of the organization became a lot more condensed and focused. In short, the purpose is to better the lives and experiences of inner-city community members through intentional acts of service and through focused programming. Using the experience she had of being the Executive Chairwoman of the Black Student Union at William Paterson University for two years, she was able to build projects and initiatives around the direct success and support of inner-city community members.
How
After the re-naming, re-focusing, and re-constructing, Stamps began to build the team that would be able to help her save not only her city, but the world. By late 2020, Stamps had on-boarded four determined and passionate young women who had dedicated their time, resources, and love to Reach From The Roots. From that point, they have been working endlessly to better the experiences of inner-city community members. This includes feeding the homeless community free, hot meals twice a month, giving away free clothes. creating a mobile pantry that is open to all New Jersey residents, providing resources to single-parent households, and building a program to support inner-city young men. In such a short amount of time, they've done such great work.
They've ensured that the work will only get that much greater.
