Following the murder of George Floyd, a lot of stores were looted or forced to close during the protests. This resulted in food insecurity in communities in Minnesota that already face various socioeconomic challenges: People in those areas were unable to access food that they needed as stores were closed.  

Following the murder of George Floyd, a lot of stores were looted or forced to close during the protests. This resulted in food insecurity in communities in Minnesota that already face various socioeconomic challenges: People in those areas were unable to access food that they needed as stores were closed.  

All of these events occurred in communities close to where Lexi Foman ’21 and her brother live. Foman told The Brandeis Hoot in an interview that this “was an emotional time and was strange to have the whole country talking about Minnesota.” There were a lot of community groups that posted on social media and asked for the supplies they needed, and Foman’s brother went out to go and get supplies and volunteered at those sites as well. However, due to health concerns, Foman was unable to attend protests or do a lot of the in-person volunteer work, but she was still determined in helping the community in some way.

What Foman decided to do was post on Facebook and see whether people were interested in donating to a GoFundMe created to raise money for the community. During the first day, the page raised over two thousand dollars. Seeing how successful the first day was, the siblings decided to reach out again, and they raised over 13 thousand dollars over the course of the next two weeks. 

“People felt like they could trust us, which encouraged them to donate,” added Foman. 

A little over eight thousand dollars was spent on supplies during those weeks and were dispersed throughout the community in struggling areas where food banks were unable to meet the growing demand. Even supplies such as diapers and baby formula were given to new parents throughout the area.

After around two weeks, the food banks were once again able to meet the demands of the community, leaving Foman and her brother with a little over five thousand dollars left over from what they had fundraised. They, along with their friends who have been helping them with the initiative, decided to donate the remaining funds to Second Harvest Heartland, a well-known food bank in Minnesota.

Second Harvest Heartland not only helps to buy meals at a very cheap price, but they also assist in their distribution to shelves. One of the major reasons that Foman chose Second Harvest Heartland is that Foman’s brother and others have worked with Second Harvest Heartland in the past, so they were all familiar with the organization and how they worked. Additionally, they matched each dollar that they raised. Since every one dollar equates to three meals, this means that one dollar donated equates to six meals since it is matched. With the funds that Foman donated, this money represented over 30,000 meals for the Minnesota community. 

Foman told The Hoot that even though both her and her brother were involved, there were many other people involved as well, that were really helpful in the whole process. They were among a bigger group that helped their community. This would also hopefully facilitate people making donations. She also emphasized that there are a lot of community groups that are doing great work, which always need support.

All of these events occurred in communities close to where Lexi Foman ’21 and her brother live. Foman told The Brandeis Hoot in an interview that this “was an emotional time and was strange to have the whole country talking about Minnesota.” There were a lot of community groups that posted on social media and asked for the supplies they needed, and Foman’s brother went out to go and get supplies and volunteered at those sites as well. However, due to health concerns, Foman was unable to attend protests or do a lot of the in-person volunteer work, but she was still determined in helping the community in some way.

What Foman decided to do was post on Facebook and see whether people were interested in donating to a GoFundMe created to raise money for the community. During the first day, the page raised over two thousand dollars. Seeing how successful the first day was, the siblings decided to reach out again, and they raised over 13 thousand dollars over the course of the next two weeks. 

“People felt like they could trust us, which encouraged them to donate,” added Foman. 

A little over eight thousand dollars was spent on supplies during those weeks and were dispersed throughout the community in struggling areas where food banks were unable to meet the growing demand. Even supplies such as diapers and baby formula were given to new parents throughout the area.

After around two weeks, the food banks were once again able to meet the demands of the community, so Foman and her brother had a little over five thousand dollars left over from what they had fundraised. They, along with their friends who have been helping them with the initiative, decided to donate the remaining funds to Second Harvest Heartland, a well-known food bank in Minnesota.

Second Harvest Heartland not only helps to buy meals at a very cheap price, but they also assist in their distribution to shelves. One of the major reasons that Foman chose Second Harvest Heartland is that Foman’s brother and others have worked with Second Harvest Heartland in the past, so they were all familiar with the organization and how they worked. Additionally, they matched each dollar that they raised. Since every one dollar equates to three meals, this means that one dollar donated equates to six meals since it is matched. With the funds that Foman donated, this money represented over 30,000 meals for the Minnesota community. 

Foman told The Hoot that even though both her and her brother were involved, there were many other people involved as well, that were really helpful in the whole process. They were among a bigger group that helped their community. This would also hopefully facilitate people making donations. She also emphasized that there are a lot of community groups that are doing great work, which always need support.