VENDOR PROFILE VOICE Vendor Profi le: ZAKKAYAH BROOKS BY ELISABETH MONOGHAN ZAKKAYAH BROOKS has been a Denver VOICE vendor since 2008, but like many of our vendors, her life was disrupted by the pandemic. While she has vended the VOICE since we reopened after a two-month shutdown in June of 2020, she’s supplemented her income with other work. This past September, Brooks began working as a subcontractor for a day labor company that sends her to clean new houses before they go on the market. There, she works with painters, electricians, and other contractors onsite to prepare the homes for sale. Recently, Brooks decided she wanted to launch her own soup and sandwich company, so with the assistance of the day labor company, which paid for her to get her business license and insurance, she began delivering sandwiches to the laborers working at the job sites. Because she is fine-tuning her recipes and working out details like pricing and everything she plans to serve, Brooks is giving the sandwiches to the contractors free of charge. That way, she gets feedback on what they like, and she’s getting her name out there for when she officially opens her ZAKKAYAH BROOKS. CREDIT: ELISABETH MONAGHAN business. Each package with the sandwiches includes a card with her business contact information. She also delivers free food to people in need, which has inspired her to explore making her business a nonprofit. With the money Brooks makes from vending the VOICE and working day labor jobs, she spends it on her four grandsons. Additionally, she sends a lot of her earnings to her daughter, who is studying business administration at a college in Dallas. ■ HOW TO HELP The money we take in from vendors helps us cover a portion of our printing costs, but we depend largely on donations from individuals, businesses, and foundations to help us pay our rent and keep the lights on. 1 4 GET THE WORD OUT We rely on grassroots marketing to get the word out about what we do. Talk to people about our organization and share us with your network. Support us on DONATE Donations to the Denver VOICE are tax-deductable. Go to denvervoice.org to give a one-time or recurring donation. You can also mail a check to: Denver VOICE | P.O. Box 193 | Denver, CO 80201 3 VOLUNTEER We need volunteers to help with everything from newspaper distribution to event planning and management. Contact program@denvervoice.org for volunteering information. 5 SUBSCRIBE If you are unable to regularly purchase a newspaper from our vendors, please consider a subscription. We ask subscribers to support our program with a 12-month pledge to give $10 a month, or a one-time donation of $120. Subscriptions help us cover our costs AND provide an amazing opportunity to those who need it most. Go to denvervoice.org/subscriptions for more information. @denverVOICE 2 ADVERTISE Our readership is loyal, well-educated, and socially concerned. Readers view purchasing the paper as a way to immediately help a person who is poor or homeless while supporting long-term solutions to end poverty. If you are interested in placing an ad or sponsoring a section of the paper, please contact us about rates at ads@denvervoice.org. March 2022 DENVER VOICE 3
4 Publizr Home