We all we got!
MSNBC commentator and activist, Brittany Packnett Cunningham, and her husband, photographer Reginald Cunningham, got on Twitter last night to rally donations for local food banks to help support communities in response to the state of emergency caused by the novel coronavirus.
With schools and multiple businesses suspending operations to help slow the spread of the coronavirus aka “The Rona,” thousands of people raised their voices to express concern for students and families who would struggle to eat as a result of the closures.
Cunningham took to Twitter to spread love and the power of community in the midst of the chaos saying, “…let’s go on a giving spree. This government ain’t gonna take care of us, so we have to look after one another. @kidnoble and I have $1500 in matching donations for any local food bank donations in your area.”
“Food banks can make a single dollar stretch upwards of 8 meals at a time. I realized my support could go further if we encouraged others to give with us. Folks gave in just 19 minutes to the tune of over $2,000, so we matched it,” Cunningham told Because of Them We Can.
The post was seen thousands of times and responses started rolling in with people sending screenshots of their donation receipts in mass. “Reply with a screenshot of your receipt & a link. If you give $5, we’ll match the $5. If you give $10, we’ll match it. Up until our $1500 is spent. That’s $3000 total to food banks in our own communities through our communal power. Knowing ya’ll, it’s going to happen quickly,” she tweeted.
And it did. Other people quickly chimed in, agreeing to also match donations to local food banks. In one hour, the community raised $3514.
“Many donors have stepped up in the days since to provide matching donations, and other people, like Tarana Burke and Patrisse Cullors, stepped up to do their own giving sprees! In two days we’ve donated over $11,000 for food banks, homeless shelters and domestic violence networks-places that will be hardest hit during this pandemic,” Cunningham told BOTWC.
Although the days ahead will be challenging, it’s moments like this that continue to show us the good that we can do together. That we truly are, all we got, and yet, that’s still more than enough.
“Faith without works is dead. In our household, we do our best to pray for those who go without, then get to work playing our small part to create justice for us all, however we can. It’s not about us-it’s about our community.”
They’re just getting started! Follow #GivingSpree on Twitter to join in!