Commentary: How Teachers Are Feeding Families During An Occupation

On a recent Saturday before a snowstorm, neighbors in Minneapolis gathered at a local magnet school. In the early morning, donors dropped off deliveries of milk, eggs, meats, fresh fruits and vegetables, and mountains of diapers and baby wipes. The supplies would go to 200 families in the greater Twin Cities area who are struggling to afford food because of warrantless immigration raids at workplaces like restaurants and construction sites—actions that have brought the economy for immigrant Minnesotans to a halt.

This particular food drive has been active for four months, beginning even before the announcement of Operation Metro Surge on December 1, 2025. The group meets every two weeks, with food and family staples like tampons and toilet paper delivered in cardboard boxes from wholesale stores or donated by local co-op grocery stores. Neighbors find the work of organizing and delivering food directly impactful for students and their families; donors know that their contributions of peanut butter and bananas will go directly to a household in need.

I talked with one Pre-K teacher who was unloading donations and organizing grocery boxes. “We hope to go through to the end of the school year,” she sighed. Burnout is real. It has become increasingly difficult to recruit donations and volunteers as the national media and politicians attempt to move on. While the peak of activity was in January 2026, during the height of federal intervention, the threat of job-site raids remains very present.

According to a sworn statement by federal officials in the case Hussen v. Noem, there were 970 federal agents operating out of the St. Paul field office as of February 23, 2026. While that number is projected to reduce to 407 by the end of March, it is still a massive increase from the office’s typical 80 officers, according to DHS field office records.

To protect participants, information and tasks are strictly compartmentalized between three stages: donations, organizing, and delivery. Family delivery boxes are identified only by anonymous numbers—without names or addresses. Drivers receive a paper slip with a phone number and a street address, but no apartment number. This minimum level of information sharing has protected students and their families at a time when federal agencies have attempted—unsuccessfully—to gain access to voter rolls and Medicaid beneficiary data.

Families in need can often be invisible in the community. One family I delivered to lived a mere blocks from my own apartment in the wealthy Mill District, tucked away in an affordably priced unit. Using my Spanish language skills to deliver groceries was emotionally powerful and made me even more dedicated to the cause.

Other food shelves and drives across the Twin Cities serve a wide range of residents, including natural-born U.S. citizens struggling in the current stagflation economy. I recently spoke with a tenant in East Isles who uses food shelves to supplement her budget. She relies on the shelves for staples so she can use her remaining grocery money on healthy frozen foods from Trader Joe’s to break the monotony. She noted she would not shop at a food shelf if she could work more hours or secure a higher raise, but a combination of tariffs, AI disruptions, and the war in Iran continues to drag on U.S. economic growth while raising inflation.

For now, the teachers continue to organize the food shelf to feed their students. As they often say, full bellies support active minds. There is still hope that the federal threat will eventually end.