Statement from Neighbors CEO on the Death of George Floyd
I have a quote from Martin Luther King Jr. on my computer desktop. It reads “It really boils down to this: that all life is interrelated. We are all caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied into a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one destiny, affects all indirectly.”
Recently, our community was shaken by the murder of a black man at the hands of a white police officer. George Floyd’s death, like countless others, is tied to the institutional racism that plagues our country. The garment of destiny that MLK refers to makes no distinction between race or life experience. It is a powerful statement that what affects one affects all.
At Neighbors, our vision is transformed communities where all are nourished and our core values are respect, generosity and inclusion. In order to fully live the values and achieve our vision, systemic racism must stop. To that end, we have taken steps during the past couple of years to update policies and handbooks. We value treating everyone with dignity and providing guests with respectful affirming experiences. We lean into our belief that we value all people, every story matters and that diversity makes communities stronger.
This is a time of extreme challenge for food shelves affected by ripples of injustice surrounding the death of George Floyd, in addition to responding to the pandemic. To help insure our partners in food insecurity have their needs met and because volunteer opportunities at Neighbors are extremely limited at this time, we are asking potential volunteers to consider supporting one of these affected organizations with their time and talents.
For more information, please visit HandsOn Twin Cities at https://www.handsontwincities.org/community-rebuilding/
In service,
Charlie Thompson
President and CEO