While garment workers around the world face economic hardships from the fallout of brands stopping orders during the COVID-19 pandemic, Lindsay Medoff of the Los Angeles-based upcycling studio Suay is taking action. As seen by the #PayUp petition fighting for brands to pay what they owe factory workers in Bangladesh, the same strides are being made to support LA’s garment workers. Medoff’s studio is partnering alongside the Garment Worker Center and Frecker Farms in Carpinteria, California by feeding worker’s and their families with the Los Angeles Farm Box initiative.

“The average hourly wage of a garment worker in LA is $6. The COVID crisis has crippled their already low income livelihoods,” Suay said in a statement about their CSA-style food bank. “If you care about fashion, immigrant laborers, and community—you care about this! Be a part of this historic action—show up directly to the people sewing your clothes, make their struggles visible, and create value in their job title. You need food and they need us.”

Medoff started Suay to uplift and transform the detrimental impacts of the garment-making industry by hiring skilled sewers and paying them above minimum wage while they turn pre-existing clothing into new pieces. “Medoff’s sewers [also] play an active role in the company, from hiring decisions to other business matters. That this registers as surprising and ‘progressive’ is part of the problem,” Vogue said of Medoff’s studio. “Medoff wants to prove that Suay’s model of truly equitable, sustainable, and honest production is possible at every level of the industry, but right now, she’s focused on supporting garment workers all over L.A.”

Suay’s Los Angeles Farm Box has been feeding over 200 garment worker’s families a week throughout the pandemic, which has been accomplished by LA residents ordering a certified organic Farm Box for their own families while each box purchased goes on to feed a garment worker’s family in need. For those who want to join in on the initiative but do not live on the West Coast, Suay has also opened up the option for anyone, anywhere to donate a box without receiving one.

To purchase a box, donate a box, or find out more information, head to Suay’s website here.