More than 4,000 volunteers organized grocery assistance to a church congregation following a pastor’s request after he noticed large numbers of his congregation had stopped attending church services amid an enforcement surge by ICE. He noted that even U.S. citizens were afraid to leave home to avoid the risk of having their children stopped by ICE.
Why It Matters
Mutual aid is civic action when people organize to meet a shared need in their community. Neighbors are participating in public life when they identify a problem, work together, and take responsibility for one another’s well-being. During the ICE surge in Minneapolis, these efforts helped families carry on with daily life when many were afraid to leave home. Including stories on mutual aid records what residents did; it does not imply that every act of charity is a political statement. This story shows how one local request prompted a much larger community response.