As ICE operations have escalated throughout the Twin Cities, our local immigrant communities have had to turn to neighbors and non-profits for support to meet their daily needs. Over the last several months, ICOM-AID has been flooded with requests for assistance. Beginning in December, as the situation across the Twin Cities worsened for so many, ICOM and other aid organizations have witnessed firsthand the high volume of need. We began to see five times the requests for help with rent and food that we typically see.
But human kindness proved itself to be the perfect solution to the staggering need. As more and more of our neighbors needed assistance, ICOM-AID received an outpouring of donations from not just the Twin Cities or Minnesota, but just about everywhere!
ICOM Treasurer Nancy Hassett says the organization received a large flood of substantial donations from almost every state in the United States, plus more from Canada, Europe, and Australia as both online and mailed donations spiked. The Twin Cities area has been in the national (and international) spotlight over the past few months, and local nonprofits have been the beneficiaries of an incredible wave of generosity.
“What we’ve gotten [in the past month] is maybe five times what we would normally get for individual donations over the course of a year,” Hassett said.
Hassett, who has been an ICOM board member since 2021 and its treasurer since 2023, said this wave of donations reflects a large shift in how the nonprofit is funded over the past few years.
“When I started, probably 90% of our revenue was generated from grants. We spent a lot of time applying for grants,” She said that a healthy non-profit needs income from a healthy mix of grants and individual donations.
These generous donations have helped ICOM continue to support our community in every way possible. From rent assistance to food, every donation is another step toward providing for our communities in this time of need.
Hassett said that while ICOM has already been able to put more than $50,000 to use in less than six weeks, the heightened need for assistance will outlast this surge in donations.
“The need is going to continue for quite a while as people try to recover from this,” Hassett said.
Our friends, neighbors and colleagues will continue to need assistance in the coming weeks, and only time will tell if the generosity of donors and volunteers will be enough to meet that need.
ICOM and AID want to thank the thousands of people from around the country and the world who are paying attention to what is happening in Minnesota, especially the Twin Cities. Because of the high visibility of our struggle, and the compassion of our supporters at home and abroad, organizations like ICOM can better sustain our efforts to meet the needs of our communities.
Hassett and all of ICOM extend their gratitude to all the donors for their support.
“Without you, ICOM could not do the work that we are doing,” Hassett said. “Knowing that we have people out there who believe in what we do really helps us to get that work done everyday.”
Bitter, Minnesota cold accompanied Metro Surge, and it feels symbolic of the brutal attack on our community. Your kindness is the fire that keeps us warm. All of us here at ICOM extend our heartfelt gratitude to everyone who has donated, volunteered or otherwise worked to assist their neighbors, even in the darkest of times. We will never forget your generosity.
If you are interested in supporting ICOM’s efforts, you can find our GiveMN form here.