Tiny tidbits of traction
Energy begins to flow.
After weeks of reaching out, I have finally started to hear back from people in my community about connecting to do mutual aid. This is encouraging and gives me new energy!
Interestingly, the energy is starting to flow at three different scales of action, specifically: my driveway, my neighborhood, and nationally.
My driveway
I figured out how I could contribute starting right from my house. The local foodbank suggests that people get together and re-pack bulk supplies into bags that people can pick up. Two examples: 1) "no-cook" meal bags, with food bars, fruit cups, and drinks; 2) "hygiene bags," with hotel-sized soap and shampoo, toothbrushes, razors, and menstrual pads.
So, when the weather gets just a little warmer, I can invite my neighbors to gather in my driveway to pack the useful bags that I can then take to the foodbank to be distributed. I will have to buy the bulk supplies to get started, but my experience is that once people get involved with a well-organized, gratifying project, they want to contribute. We shall see!
My neighborhood
The pastor of a local church called me back! Their church has a small food pantry in a basement room and (these are the miracle words): "our congregation wants to do more, and we have money to expand the program." 😳 Wut?
The pastor and I had a marvelous conversation about how the church might follow the example of churches in Minnesota who are making deliveries to people terrified to leave their homes because of ICE. Churches are good for this, because you have to "vet" the drivers before you give them people's addresses. Church members are "pre-vetted," as it were; you know who they are.
So the pastor will consult the congregation and we'll figure out how the church can expand its program to align with the increasing need in the community. We're not under full-scale attack yet (though there are arrests here, intermittently), but we must get ready for the day to come.
National scale
In Minnesota, mutual aid has been implemented at an as-yet-unheard-of scale. One acute problem is that people can't go to work, and yet rent is due. So, the community is raising money—millions of dollars.
Lex McMenamin
Well, this morning I got a Signal message from Ashley offering me the opportunity to join a remote-work effort to help people get home who are released by ICE in other states. People are donating accumulated airline "miles" to book flights for people who are stranded with no resources. My orientation is tomorrow.
I signed up on this page: https://www.standwithminnesota.com/volunteer. I think it's important for people in the U.S. to start thinking on a national scale when it comes to mutual aid. I am intensely curious to learn how they are putting together a network to do this.
Energy flowing
It feels really good to be in touch with people, working on a common project, in the spirit of being helpful. That's what Solidarity Prepping is all about, ultimately. It has taken a few months of phone calls, emails, and false starts for the energy to start flowing, but every little tidbit of traction is a joy beyond describing!
❤️ David B.
