My name is Jennifer and I am the Director a preschool 5 minutes south of Minneapolis. Our school community is facing a crisis that no family should have to endure. Several of our families have been directly impacted by recent ICE operations. One father has been detained and is currently being held in El Paso, separated from his spouse and children. Other families are living in constant fear—afraid to leave their homes, unable to go to work, and keeping their children home from school because they don’t feel safe. The impact has been immediate and devastating. For the family whose father is detained, communication is painfully limited. I have helped set up an account so they can receive brief, two-minute phone calls from him—currently their only connection. Legal aid is essential to bring him home, but it comes at a high cost. Just to begin the process requires a legal retainer, and expenses will continue to grow from there. This burden is overwhelming for a family with no income and no financial safety net.

In the midst of this fear, our community has stepped up. Families of other students have been providing mutual aid, sharing what they can to help one another survive. This fundraiser is an extension of that care. All funds raised will go directly to the families in our school who are most severely impacted, helping to cover food and basic necessities, emergency support for families unable to work, and legal aid costs to fight detention and reunite families. No family should have to choose between food and legal representation. No child should have to live in fear of losing a parent.

We have had ICE in our parking lot and I myself videoed ICE take a man while he was on his break from the business next door. It is everywhere and happening everyday!

Your support—whether through a donation or by sharing this fundraiser—can provide immediate relief and hope during an incredibly frightening time. Thank you for standing with these families. Your generosity matters more than you know.