Minneapolis church has delivered more than 12,000 boxes of groceries to families in hiding

NINA MOINI: Since federal immigration enforcement began in December, mutual aid networks have popped up across the state to support immigrant families. A church in South Minneapolis has been a hub for delivering groceries. DHH Church serves primarily Hispanic families, but their community has grown. In total, they've delivered 12,000 boxes of groceries over about six weeks. They have more than 20,000 families registered to receive food. Joining me now to talk about this work is the senior pastor, Sergio Amezcua. Thank you very much for your time.

SERGIO AMEZCUA: Hi. Thank you. Thank you for having me.

NINA MOINI: Pastor, the work you're doing sounds so just vast and great. Take us inside one day of grocery delivery. What is it like? How are you able to do this?

SERGIO AMEZCUA: Well, we're doing it by the grace of God and by the help of thousands of volunteers that we have in our network. And this began, just so you know, it began-- I think December 2 was the first day everything began. I told my assistant, hey, with what's going on here with ICE, families might be afraid of coming out, so let's just get a sign up sheet in our social media, and maybe we can have 10 families.

So he did it around 11:00. And at 7:00 PM, he called me, Pastor, we had some families registered. Oh, great. How many? I go, 20, 10? He's like, no, we got 2,000. I'm like, what? Oh my God.

So we started giving 200 boxes, and now, we're doing an average of 1,300 boxes, which equals 1,300 families daily when we give food. So far, we have close to 14,000 families that we have helped, and we had over 24,000 families registered. They need help. We still have a lot to do.

NINA MOINI: So I understand you have about 400 volunteers a day, in one day, delivering to around 1,500 families. What does it take to get this food? How are you getting all of these? Is it donations?

SERGIO AMEZCUA: Yeah. Well, people donate financially, and we purchase food by the pound, by weight. And we also have other nonprofits bringing food here. And so we're not only distributing [INAUDIBLE], but we're also providing food for other nonprofits, like churches or schools.

And they distribute the food through their channels as well. So we're getting organized where we can to reach out more people. We're sending food to Lismore, to Rochester, to Faribault, to St. Cloud, Willmar, as well, through churches.

NINA MOINI: What are you telling people as the weeks are going on? You mentioned this started December 2. You're six weeks in now, and you've created a big operation here that involves many people. But I wonder if you know how long to anticipate running this. I mean, we don't know how long the federal agent presence is going to continue here in the state. How are you motivating yourself and others to continue on this mission?

SERGIO AMEZCUA: Well, we're doing this daily. The first two weeks, we got really tired. [LAUGHS] We started our day at 8:00 AM, going home at 8:00 PM. We thought it was just like a two week deal. But based on our information, we know the agents have reservations in hotels through the beginning of June. So when we find that out, we technically say this is not sustainable.

We're doing Monday. And then Tuesday, we're giving food to churches and schools, and then Tuesday to the public-- I mean, Wednesday to the public. So we're doing Monday, Wednesday, Friday and some Saturdays. And Tuesdays, we get food to organizations so they can distribute through the channels. So we usually take Thursday, like today, to organize our building and things like that.

Now, another thing that has been really great, we're really grateful to the local authorities, like the mayor. And the chief of police, Brian O'Hara, has been sending CSOs to help us distribute food to our Minneapolis residents. We are--

NINA MOINI: Community service officers. OK. Well, I'm afraid that we do have to go, Pastor, but I hope that you'll join us again sometime soon. Tell me really quick. How do you get volunteers? Is that something you're seeking?

SERGIO AMEZCUA: Yes, yes. We're always seeking volunteers. So they can come to our church at 5728 Cedar Avenue South Monday, Wednesday, or Friday. We get them signed up here. We have a protocol for security. And also, donations are welcome in our website, which is dhhmn.com.

NINA MOINI: Pastor Sergio Amezcua of DHH Church, thank you for your time. And thank all of you for listening to Minnesota Now. Take care and stay with us for All Things Considered this afternoon, beginning at 3:00.