#winter storm

(this list is mainly ways non-locals can donate but by extension offers a lot of resources and places to volunteer in the Twin Cities + there are specific ways to donate time under the cut which can be adjusted to your local neighborhood)

full credit to cataloo from r/minnesota [x]

🩵Immigrant support

Immigrant Defense Network – coalition of 90+ groups organizing rapid response and collecting evidence.

Immigrant Law Center of MN – free immigration legal representation to low-income immigrants and refugees.

COPAL – advocacy, organizing, phone hotline. Focus on Latine community.

Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC) – education and protest organizing.

Interfaith Coalition on Immigration – advocacy, aid, events.

Monarca MN – training and phone hotline.

Unidos MN – education, protests, advocacy.

Center for Victims of Torture – advocacy and mental health services for immigrants and refugees.

International Institute of Minnesota – refugee resettlement group that provides support and legal help to vulnerable new-to-country families.

Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota – offers services to refugees, including legal aid to non-citizens.

🩵Food support

If local, food donations are welcome, otherwise monetary donations help these types of orgs source what is most needed

VEAP

La Vina Community Church/Iglesia Cristiana La Viña Burnsville

Second Harvest Heartland

Every Meal

The Food Group

Meals on Wheels MN

Find a local food shelf

🩵Mutual aid funds & community support

Community Aid Network

Twin Cities Trans Mutual Aid

Leo's Tow (Venmo @leostowingmn) is towing cars back to families if a car is stranded when someone is detained.

🩵More links

MN50501 Mutual Aid Linktree – well-organized list of various Twin Cities groups.

Mplsmutualaid Linktree – many neighborhood and individual GoFundMes listed here.

Mpls.St.Paul Magazine – see Food Drives and Fundraisers.

Stand with Minnesota – extensive list of organizations, mutual aid, and crowdfunding campaigns.

🩵Donate blood

Memorial Blood Center declared a blood emergency on Tuesday, Jan 13. MBC is the blood supplier for both tier 1 trauma hospitals in the metro area (Hennepin County Medical Center and North Memorial Health).

American Red Cross

🩵Donate food or other goods

Mpls.St.Paul Magazine – see Food Drives and Fundraisers.

Volunteer your time (under the cut)

Hi this psa is brought to you by my boss nearly killing us via carbon monoxide poisoning.

Heaters like this are labelled for Indoor/Outdoor usage, however that indoor label is misleading af.

Indoors in this context means a drafty garage or car port, not your living room or bedroom. Unless the room you're in is well ventilated with fresh air, don't use this fucker indoors.

Silence of a winter storm

Kalamazoo, Michigan

Charge all your devices and portable power packs. Keep your thermostat at 65F or above to make sure your pipes don't freeze. Fill your bathtub or a large soup kettle or spare water jugs with tap water for cleaning and flushing toilets in case the pipes do freeze in your area. Apply scrap fabric, newspaper, or weatherstripping to any gaps or leaks in your door and window frames. Use spare towels to block the bottoms of drafty doors.

Friday and Saturday, everything's going to be a madhouse and the shelves will be empty. So prep now, if you haven't already, and reach out to your near and dear to check in and establish emergency plans. Once things get started, STAY HOME and don't take unnecessary risks.

Better to overprepare and wonder later why you worried than to shrug it off and regret.

Y'all are about to get a shit ton of snow, ice, and feezing temperatures, so as someone from the North, I have some advice

If temperatures drop below 25° F, you may want to leave your sinks trickling or dripping over night to avoid the pipes freezing

‼️Keep cat litter in your car if you have to drive. If you get stuck in the snow, you can pour the cat litter under your tires to give them traction

If your hands are stiff and freezing, don't immediately put them in front of a heater or under hot water, you can burst your blood vessels doing that, because they'll try to expand too quickly. You want to slowly thaw them out until you get feeling back in them and can move them properly again

Don't lick your lips when they get dry, you'll make it worse due to the cold and dry air, just wait until you get inside somewhere and use lip balm

Cold air will come through your windows and the cracks in your doors (if you live in an old house), seal them up best you can. My family puts a sort of cling film over the windows to keep the cold air out and the warm air in

If you have a basement (in an old house), cold air will come from there, too. We have a trapdoor in our pantry and it gets COLD

‼️It's a good idea to keep extra blankets or jackets in your car, because if you do end up sliding off the road, it might take some time for someone to reach you

Share this around so more people see it

Any other northerners who have more advice, feel free to share in the comments or in reblogs