Volunteering: Holy Trinity Lutheran Church's Food and Supply Distribution

Holy Trinity Lutheran Church is a Minneapolis church that is located in the midst of where the June uprisings occurred. They are doing food and supply distribution for Minneapolis residents that have been impacted by rioting twice weekly through August, and have been giving to their community for as long as their doors have been open. Holy Trinity has been collecting toiletries and efficiently distributing them to residents who often line up hours before the distribution begins. Pictured below are hundreds of bags of diapers, wipes, formula, and feminine products that volunteers put together. Jennifer Starr Dodd leads volunteers each week and I had the chance to interview her in early August.​

 

Interview Notes (Jennifer's words - changed to third person):

• Holy Trinity’s mission is to be an advocate for social justice and racial justice for the marginalized and seek justice by all means necessary.

• After the murder of George Floyd, the work Holy Trinity is doing says "we see you" to their neighbors and shows them that they matter. What happened with George Floyd was vicious, it was merciless, it was wrong. During the uprisings, Holy Trinity opened their doors to be a safe haven for the folks that were rioting. A lot of churches wouldn’t do that, and they were right in the middle of it. They provided first aid and medical help and it strengthened the community.

• These problems are the remnants of marginalization and people taking advance of others and Black voices not being acknowledged as equal. They saw a need and they met the need.

• By no means was Holy Trinity built to do this but Jennifer knows that, as Christians, they are called to do these things.

• They are not sure if the need is so great because of the rioting or if it is just general need. It is both but they don’t know how much of each. The need has always been there but since the uprisings, there have been more volunteers. It made it tangible for people because it was out of sight and out of mind. When people don’t see it, when it doesn’t disrupt their daily life, so, of course, they aren‘t going to see it. Since the uprisings, it caught people’s attention and volunteers have been coming from all over the Twin Cities and different states because they saw the disruption. Jesus flipped tables and caused an uprising for justice and that’s what Holy Trinity is helping with by doing with their work.

• To spread the word, it is best done by word of mouth from those who see it for themselves. It shows that people are suffering, and it is a real thing and that the need is great.

• At the beginning of every speech she gives to the new volunteers each day, she says that people have been lined up since 6 o’clock that morning to receive a ticket that they can redeem for items, and it is a privilege that volunteers can drive there to help. She urges people to be vocal and continue to remind people that there are people struggling.

• Holy Trinity averages around 400-550 people a day but can get up to 850. Before the revamping of the system, it was 1500 people 9AM-6PM, five days a week. They brought her on to revamp the system, she split the days up because it was too many people in the middle of a pandemic lining up for basic needs. She split it into a three-day model and then a two-day model, and have gotten the same numbers but fewer people each since there are only certain items each day.

• 160 people had tickets before 9:30 AM. Adults are the only people that can get items. Can go through the line as many times as they want; they don’t ask them questions.