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SUN Mutual Aid: Supporting Our Neighbors in South Minneapolis
What began as a simple porch-based effort to provide care packages for neighbors sheltering at home has grown into a vital lifeline. Today, the SUN (Supporting Our Neighbors) network is a community of 105 active volunteers providing sustained, direct support to 52 families across the Twin Cities who have been destabilized.
What We Are Doing Together
Every week, our network mobilizes to ensure that no neighbor is left to absorb the shock of this crisis alone.
- Weekly Deliveries: Each Weekend, 11 volunteer drivers deliver over $5,000 worth of healthy, culturally significant food and essential household goods (diapers, hygiene products, and cleaning supplies) to 35–38 families.
- Holistic Care: We don’t just deliver bags; we deliver dignity. Every package includes toys or games for children and a handwritten note of support from neighbors locally, nationally, and even as far away as England.
- Youth Leadership: We are proud to have middle-school-aged volunteers working alongside us, sorting produce to support their own classmates and neighbors.
- Emergency Response: Beyond food, we have stepped in to provide emergency transportation to hospitals and critical navigation for families in crisis.
The Growing Need
While we celebrate our community’s strength, the reality is that the "safety net" is fraying. We have formed a powerful partnership with a local church and food bank that has provided thousands of pounds of food, but food is only one piece of the struggle.
As we approach the end of the month, the "asks" for help are becoming daily. We are seeing a sharp increase in:
- Housing Instability: Requests for rent assistance are louder than ever.
- Essential Bills: Families are struggling to cover car payments, cell phone bills, and internet—utilities that are requirements for survival and legal representation.
- Resource Scarcity: Many larger organizations have closed their applications for aid. We expect April to have more requests for support than any previous month, however resources and donations are harder to find.
How You Can Help
To keep this work sustainable, we need more than just food donations—we need the flexible funding that allows us to keep families in their homes and their lights on. Your financial contribution directly funds the $5,000+ in weekly groceries and the emergency financial assistance that keeps these families stable.
A Note on Our Process:
To ensure we can provide meaningful, sustained support to the families currently in our network, our intake is currently by referral only. We are unable to accept new requests for assistance through this GoFundMe page at this time. If you are in the Metro Area and would like to volunteer or donate physical items, please contact the organizer directly.
Gratitude from Our Neighbors
We wish you could be there to hear the thank-yous and see the relief on our neighbors' faces. Since we can’t bring you all on deliveries, we want to share the words of gratitude that your support has made possible. Thank you for being the safety net our community needs:
- Family #11: Thank you very much for taking the time to come to my house and bring me food. In the midst of everything that is happening in Minneapolis, this gesture means more than you imagine. Thank you for your solidarity, your support and your good heart. I really appreciate it very much. Grácias x ayudarnos estamos muy agradecidos de todo corazón