In the wake of the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, protests have swept the nation, with many erupting into violence, looting, and fires.
Minneapolis, of course, has been hard hit, but it’s a community that’s not about to stay down. After dark, dark nights, when the sun rises, volunteers have started turning up, broom and trash bags in hand to clean up their neighborhoods.
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However, there’s more work to be done than just sweeping up.
Looting and fires have taken a serious toll on Minneapolis and put the city’s most vulnerable in an even worse situation.
In some areas, it’s difficult for people access food because grocery and convenience stores have been so heavily damaged or even burned down. And so, community organizers have put out calls for donations of food and supplies for those in need.
They couldn’t possibly have predicted just how generous the people of Minneapolis could be.
At Sanford Middle School, it all started by word of mouth.
“We had a parent that reached out to us who was checking in with other families in the community, and we heard they needed food,” Jabari Browne, a teacher at the school, told Insider .
The school put out a simple call asking for 85 food kits for their families, as well as other supplies like laundry detergent and diapers. Local news picked it up, and before long, the school was overwhelmed.
At one point, a line of cars waiting to drop off donations stretched 14 blocks.
Bags of groceries stretched all along the block and filled up an alleyway, and an army of volunteers sorted it all, with some even delivering them to families in need who didn’t have transportation.
Sanford’s principal, Amy Nelson, told WCCO that the turnout was “not surprising. We live in a great city and we have people who want to help.”
Touchstone Mental Health also put out a call for food donations for its community.
Their neighborhood, Minnehaha Commons, faced similar difficulties to Sanford’s and once again, the generosity of Minnesotans was on full display.
“We were hardly a half hour into our food drive and we already had more than enough for all our residents,” a Facebook post from Touchstone read. Before long, they announced that anybody in need, not just their residents, could come by and take what they needed. Touchstone also started directing donations to other organizations.
Emotions ran high at Touchstone, particularly gratitude.
“Beloved community, we asked and you answered in abundance! I couldn’t be more proud of the Twin Cities Community today. The tenants at Minnehaha Commons told me all day long how they were so grateful and excited to be part of an event like this.”
