Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: THIRTY-nine -year-old writer, artist and digital strategist Ashley Fairbanks started a Google Doc to help thousands of Minnesotans affected by immigration authorities. Since its launch, the website, ‘Stand with Minnesota’ received over 2.4 million hits and helped raise almost $20 million.
The site has also been used to coordinate flights – through donated frequent flyer miles – for people returning to Minneapolis after being released from detention in Texas. Fairbanks lives about 40 minutes from Dilley detention center, where five-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos was transported with his father from Minneapolis. Stand With Minnesota is also focused on covering families’ rent. Donations are being matched by a Minnesota grant-making foundation so residents who have been sheltering in place and have been unable to work during the ICE siege can afford to stay in their homes.
The site also hosts a “giving directory” with more opportunities for mutual aid – helping residents with laundry needs, grocery drop-offs and even tow services for those whose cars were abandoned after ICE interactions. “It has been incredible to get to see all of the generosity and how people are eager to give, especially with the mutual aid efforts,” Fairbanks told The Guardian.
