We know that the work we do wouldn’t be possible without others. This was so apparent in our work helping to resettle families in Minneapolis – we needed volunteers to help us find items, and then really needed them to set up the apartments. It was a lot of work.
In order to find some neighbors who might be able to help us, a few staff posted on NextDoor — a social media site local to the neighborhood you live in. Ashley, a woman who runs an urban farm in Northeast Minneapolis with her husband Chris called California Street Farm, saw one of the posts and offered to donate fresh produce to the family.
Can you imagine having beautiful fruits and vegetables available after a long, tiring journey? And knowing that someone cared enough to get them for you? This was a gesture we were so excited to share.
Naturally, we were ecstatic, and happily accepted a cooler filled with fresh carrots, radishes, cucumbers, and more for the family.
In addition to them, another one of our staff, Rattana, who herself is Thai, also heeded our call for help and went out to buy ingredients this family coming from a refugee camp in Thailand would recognize. When she arrived at the office the next day with boxes and baskets of items, we were so happy to know that the family would be getting top quality produce and other staples they would recognize.