What You Can Do After a BBQ

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In San Francisco last night, we gathered to raise money to help RAICES reunite and assist the more than 400 kids who are still separated from their parents in the aftermath of the administration's "Zero Tolerance" immigration policy. It was deeply awesome to see different circles come together with the goal of doing something about an issue that has, despite its urgency, fallen out of the news. We celebrated goodness and we talked about action. The vibes were good. And now it's up to us to build on those vibes and find ways to keep coming together. To engage with issues that are not comfortable. To push our own thinking and our own doing, to find ways to make change in our city and afar. 

A note for you, if you were there in presence or in spirit:

Thanks to your generosity, we raised over $12,000 for RAICES.

Depending on RAICES’ clients’ key needs, this will bond out nine parents, reuniting them with their kids while they go through asylum proceedings, and/or it will bring full legal assistance to moms like Raquel, who is still waiting to be reunited with her sons.

If you couldn’t make it but would still like to contribute, we’ll be shipping the gift on Monday, so there’s still time!

Feel free to Venmo Phil directly - @phillip-yang-5 - or email Charlotte to work out alternate arrangements (charlottevparker@gmail.com).

$12,000 is amazing, but there’s more we can do. Let’s keep the momentum going.

What else can I do?!

  1. Hang out again. See you next time. A bunch of you had thoughts on what’s next (I see you, Loek, Michael…). If you have ideas, contacts, event spaces, heck, a vision of a cover-band karaoke party for a cause, be it what it may, add it here.  

  2. Get informed. This week’s Latino USA is a good primer on what is happening to families still separated. Sign up for this weekly newsletter from the National Immigration Forum for a bipartisan perspective on immigration reform. Texas Monthly, the LA Times, the Texas Tribune, and Neta all have strong coverage of border issues. Here’s a small library of good articles on immigration, family separation, and what you can do:

    1. Interview with an immigration lawyer in McAllen

    2. Root causes of the crisis

    3. More on RAICES and why their work matters

    4. Why your gift last night keeps giving

    5. An Interview with Charlotte and Dave Willner, who kickstarted the campaign that raised $20M for RAICES and inspired this party.

  3. Not to get all political, but get political. Fixing the systems that caused these problems in the first place is going to take movement from our elected officials.  

    1. 5 calls has easy scripts for calling your reps on all sorts of issues, including immigration.

    2. Vote!

    3. Campaign for the candidates you care about, like Jessica’s been doing for Gina Ortiz-Jones in a key swing district in TX.

    4. Help other people vote in the midterms! (Great date idea FYI).

4. Keep giving. Think about making a recurring gift to an organization like RAICES. This ain’t over until the fat lady is done singing, or whatever they say. Fixing the system takes time, and will need our support. Make a recurring donation and ask your HR department about your matching policy while you’re at it. Amply is a great plug-in to help with this.

5. Get involved locally. Here’s a list of organizations in the Bay Area that can use volunteers who speak Spanish, know how to do taxes, are lawyers, etc. That means so many of you!

One more big thanks to our hosts with the mosts, Ben, Gavin, and Nick. You guys rock.

Here’s to more fun and finding ways to get uncomfortable,

AT, Charlotte, Christine, Kat, and Phil


P.S. Our friends at Imperfect Produce love you as much as we loved their veggies on the grill so they’ve gifted you free produce. Use code BRFUND at checkout to get 50% off your first box of delicious fruits and veggies.