10 Tiny Ways You can Help Today
Here it is! My first blog post for Operation Honeybee. So, it is very appropriate that we are talking about, you guessed it, honeybees.
You may not know this, but honeybees have given us the key to heal the Heartbreak of America. Don’t believe it? Keep reading.
One tiny honeybee gives one twelfth of a teaspoon of honey to the hive her whole life. That’s it. I don’t even know how to measure something that small.
But an active, strong hive? All the bees together produce 60-100 lbs of honey per year. If you were to look at how much all the bees in the United States make each year, you would find 125 million pounds of honey! That is heavier than the Titanic. So, you can literally say, those tiny, little bees, with their twelfth of a teaspoon, make a boatload of honey every year! (I got my information here)
I know a great many good people. The kind of people that you want as neighbors. The kind of people that would drive through a snowstorm to pull you out of a ditch. These are good people and they are horrified by what is happening in America.
However, there is this huge gap between being a human spectator and fixing the Heartbreak of America. And so they freeze. And to be honest, I froze. For nearly a year. It’s hard to know what to do. But then one day, I thought, I can do this. I can raise my voice in dessent. And, if I can do this, so can you.
If we each could do one little finger-nail-sized-bee task each day, imagine what could happen to our country. You see? You, me, your roommate and cousin and cashier at Winn-Dixie are all the bees. As one, we can only do a little. But together, we are unstoppable. We ARE strong enough.
So, for this inaugural blog post, I am going to leave you with 10 tiny tasks you can do today. Right now.
Build Your Community
1. Get one neighbor’s phone number
Go meet your neighbor. It can be scary, I know. Trust me. But do it anyway and trade phone numbers because you can’t check on someone you can’t reach.
2. Save the rapid response hotline
MigraWatch, 1-844-363-1423. It’s nationwide, it’s 24/7, you can call or text, and it takes reports of ICE and CBP activity.
You can save it to your contacts right now. Bonus points if you send it to three people who don’t have it.
Like I said, this is a national number. You probably also have one for your state. Check it out.
3. Pay for the person behind you
Groceries. Drive-through. A cup of coffee. You will never know what it means to them. But chances are, you will be lifting the heart of a stranger.
4. Carry Know Your Rights cards
Print ten of them (you can find them here). Keep them with you and hand them out everywhere you go. Somebody’s going to need one on a day they didn’t see coming.
5. Spend your money on purpose
Buy lunch at an immigrant owned business today. Then leave a review with the owner’s name in it. Free advertising is a donation.
Make your voice heard
6. Put something in your window
With a piece of poster board and a Sharpie, you can promote solidarity with messages like “We will get through this together” or “Together, we are strong enough” Or even go a step above and say “This home is safe for you”.
7. Add your own voice when you repost
One sentence. In your words. If something matters to you, tell people when you repost it. Your followers will stop because you just said it mattered.
8. Don’t let it slide at dinner
When your uncle says the thing, say "I don’t think that’s true." You can be respectful and peaceful and still disagree when someone is spreading fear and lies.
9. Email your kid’s school one question
"What is our policy if immigration agents come to campus?" This is a good thing for every parent to do. Because we know ICE has been visiting schools.
10. Learn to record before you need to
This last one is for people like me. I had my phone for months before I realized there was a shortcut for pictures and recording. Now, I am ready to record things that infringe on our democracy.
Together, we are strong enough!
Kathy
