Minnesota Needs You Now. Yes Now.
This is a call to dig deep — especially if you have deep pockets. Wealthy individuals, foundations, or corporations have NO excuse to sit on the sidelines right now, when the need is so great.
There has been a crisis here. And it has been acute. And the whole world seemed to be paying attention to it.
Now, when all of the national and international media teams have long left, and official statements would have you believe that things are getting “back to normal,” I’m here to tell you they’re not. And that enough dominoes have fallen because of the weeks-long violent invasion we’ve been enduring… that this crisis is now a slow-moving economic tsunami approaching the shore.
We need urgent help. Yesterday would have been best. But today works. And if too many days pass without any help, I don’t even want to imagine how bad it’ll be.
Read on to see what I’m talking about….
Learning: A Lesson for You
Do y’all remember my amazing friend Ashley who built the Stand With Minnesota website to help direct philanthropic support to Minnesota during our most recent traumatic stretch?
Ashley has a brilliant way of putting her finger right on the pulse of the zeitgeist and knowing what is needed in a given moment in time. Having moved away from Minnesota, and watching her home community struggle from afar, she did what she does best: she designed… she created… she communicated. And a website helping direct people all around the world who saw the images and videos and stories coming out of Minnesota… and who wanted to help our communities… was born.
This is philanthropy.
Pure philanthropy.
Love in motion.
And the result of her love in motion? By some accounting, nearly $20 MILLION has already been raised through her website. In just over a month. And I’m sure that’s just a portion of the philanthropy she has mobilized.
People all over the world saw the giant BAT SIGNAL she sent out, an effort to “point the fire hose of people's generosity in the right direction,” in her own words. Mission Accomplished, I’d say!
Beyond all the money raised, she caught The Guardian’s attention, which inspired a story they published this past Tuesday, February 24th.
An excerpt:
From thousands of miles away in San Antonio, Ashley Fairbanks watched the news pour out of her home town of Minneapolis: federal immigration authorities flooding the streets and regular people stepping up to defend and care for their communities. She knew she had to do something. So the 39-year-old writer, artist and digital strategist started a Google Doc.
Soon, the list of resources for residents grew so long it became unwieldy, and Fairbanks, who builds websites for a living, launched Stand With Minnesota.
Immediately, she said, “People were really eager to help.”
Since its launch, the site has received over 2.4 million hits and helped raise almost $20m for affected Minnesotans, she said.
She didn’t start with a website.
She didn’t start with raising money.
She started with love. Love for her hometown. Love for the people in her hometown. Love for the vibrant community she had built here over many years. So she couldn’t just stand by and watch this community struggle. She had to help. So she did what she knew how to do best. And it ended up being… astoundingly impactful.
Something relatively simple for her had the power to seriously change the world — and peoples’ actual lives — for the better.
Amazingly inspiring, right?
But here’s the problem.
Even despite all of the philanthropic support that has been mobilized, both monetary and in many other forms, Minnesotans are facing down an approaching, massive economic tsunami that threatens to take out our communities even more than the siege of armed, masked, violent, chaotic government agents on our streets has.
For weeks (even months) now, we Minnesotans have been in rapid-response mode, on high-alert, rushing from one emergency to another, doing everything we can to just survive one of the most traumatic strings-of-days any of us could have imagined.
And that reality? That means that so-called “normal” life has been caput for weeks (months) now… which means that none of the “usual” things have been able to happen.
People haven’t been able to leave their homes…
… which means they haven’t been able to work…
… which means they haven’t been able to afford, or even shop for, food…
… which ALSO means there is no way they can pay their rent right now.
PLUS…
Businesses are struggling. Because they haven’t had staff. And they haven’t had customers. And revenue and sales have all-but dried up.
SO…
In addition to a looming crisis for the local economy of permanently shut-down restaurants… and body shops… and corner stores… and salons… we are facing a looming eviction crisis.
All of the above is seriously alarming.
But the looming eviction crisis is the most acute problem right now.
March 1st is Sunday.
Rent is due.
And we don’t have enough funds flowing into Minneapolis’ communities to prevent a rolling wave of evictions.
Here are Ashley’s own words on Facebook a couple days ago:
Here we have a story much like that of the so-called “Widow’s Mite” in the Bible, where a poor widow sacrifices all she has — two tiny copper coins (lepta) — into the temple treasury. The wise spiritual teacher Jesus praises her, noting she gave more than the wealthy… because she gave from her need, not her surplus.
We’ve had the people of Minneapolis giving all they can for weeks now.
Giving all they can — perhaps from funds they used to use for going out to eat or other entertainment. Sacrificing some of their own needs to help their neighbors meet their needs. Emptying their savings to make sure their community can survive.
And it’s still not enough to meet the need.
Meanwhile, individuals and organizations sitting on literally billions worth of capital — people for whom meeting the actual monetary need in Minneapolis would probably seem like a drop in the bucket — are giving next-to-nothing.
Do you see the irony — that these wealthy individuals and massive organizations like to say that they practice philanthropy?
They don’t actually practice philanthropy…
… unless, like Ashley and SO many other Minnesotans…
… they see an urgent need…
…and they LET LOVE MOVE THEM…
… to give… to help… to do whatever it takes…
… to make sure their community is OK.
Ashley has given whatever it took.
Ordinary Minnesotans have been giving whatever it has taken.
Where are the people who can move money on the massive scale that’s needed right now? They’re desperately needed.
And if they don’t move right now?
I don’t even want to imagine how bad it’ll be.
Wanna show up for residents of Minnesota who have now been feeling under siege for SO many weeks? Be the wind beneath our wings! As I’ve mentioned, go to this website: Stand With Minnesota. There you’ll find opportunities to support mutual aid… crowdfunding campaigns… nonprofits working on the ground… and even real-life testimonies about what has been happening here.
You’ll find love. And you’ll find courage.
Because those two things are what have been powering us all through this most difficult time in our shared life together.
Also, I’m calling out a specific campaign raising emergency rental assistance for families who 1) have a kid in early childhood special education; and 2) haven’t been able to work because of the occupation of our city. These families are at risk for eviction if we cannot help them pay their rent ASAP and, according to my organizing buds, this particular group seems to have fallen through all the other cracks (i.e. they are not connected to other sources of support):
Conversation: Your Response
Got more to say? Visit the comments section!
Now is the time to reach out and connect with others. Life doesn’t have to be so hard. Your community is waiting for you! Advice when you need it. Been-there, done-thats. Commiseration. Support. A place to vent. Guidance and mentoring. All of this, and more, is what I anticipate happening at Community-Weaving for Fundraisers.
Just community-based fundraisers. Gathering for (virtual) lunch together. Twice a month. Year-round. Chatting and supporting each other via WhatsApp in between lunches. Being there for each other. All you need to do is show up, be present. I guide, facilitate, organize, and create the container.
Practice: Make It Yours
Are you embedded in an interdependent, inextricably interconnected community? Do you feel like you’d always have help to meet any of your needs? Do you feel like you’d be willing to do or give anything one of your fellow community members needed?
Whether you think you have this already or not…
… it’s always good to start consciously practicing this way of being and living in your day-to-day life.
This could look like…
Asking for help the next time you feel overwhelmed
Noticing if/when you’re holding back from being completely generous with someone in your community… and consciously choosing to stretch yourself to give more to them
Starting a Signal or WhatsApp chat with your neighbors, telling them that you want to practice staying in closer communication and leaning on each other more
Paying closer attention to the people around you, tuning into them as much as you can… noticing when there might be an unspoken need… and, if you sense one, asking that person if they need any help
What else?
Inspiration: Something to Reflect On
No one has ever become poor by giving.
— Anne Frank
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Heya- just a note that the donation page for church rent funds doesn’t seem able to take donations from outside the US.