by Smitten Kitten has raised over $100,000 in cash, groceries, hygiene products and cleaning supplies for the Lyn-Lake neighborhood of Minneapolis in the last four weeks.
The sex shop put out their call on for donations on social media Jan. 10, three days after Renee Good was shot and killed by ICE agent Jonathan Ross.
After Good’s death, neighboring business Wrektangle Pizza began donating a pizza for every pizza bought to a family affected by ICE, inspiring Smitten Kitten to further this work.
Anne Lehman, social media manager of Smitten Kitten, said they put up their Venmo in Wrecktangle Jan. 8, and raised $500 almost immediately. They spent it all on groceries and started filling up their store.
“Pizzas are awesome. But also, this is going to be a while. We gotta get more than pizza,” Lehman said.
Immediate and strong community support for both businesses’ efforts only increased in the following weeks.
“At one point it felt like we were just being pelted with donations,” Lehman said.
The high amount of material donations, traffic into and out of the store and media coverage drew ICE attention to both Kitten and Wrecktangle.
“They would be driving through here spitting on us, cussing at us, pointing at us. And then they started following people home.”
After ICE targeting their store, Smitten Kitten moved their material donations out of shop to a more secure, constantly changing location and transitioned to taking cash donations in-store to help families with rental assistance.
The first highlight reel on Smitten Kitten’s Instagram provides updates on this location for donations, as well as links to families’ GoFundMes the store is currently supporting.
Smitten Kitten employees in-shop on Lyndale Avenue also accept cash donations for their list of supported people.
The Smitten Kitten store is located two miles from where police fatally shot George Floyd, and Lehman says police violence in their neighborhood both inspired and taught Smitten Kitten how to lead a community effort.
Lehman volunteered for the Phillips Community Free Store in South Minneapolis throughout the civil unrest after George Floyd was murdered, helping to provide free meals to over 200 families in 2020.
“Just listening to our Black and brown neighbors who have been through this type of thing way too many times,” Lehman said. “And uplifting those voices, and the things they taught me over the span of my life and over the span of the business.”
After dropping off a cash donation at Smitten Kitten, Eileen Andersen agreed.
“We’re under assault and being hit on all sides of the community. The most vulnerable people, as usual, suffer the most,” Andersen said.
She was not born in Minnesota, but has lived in Minneapolis for 20 years. She said the state’s strong sense of community is what makes it her adopted home.
Lehman said their business didn’t have a choice but to start doing community work as ICE presence in Lyn-Lake increased.
“I can’t sit here, watch, and pretended that business is as usual and answer questions about dildos while I open the store and see the tail end of someone getting abducted,” they said.
As ICE activity in South Minneapolis remains high and business like Smitten Kitten and Wrektangle are becoming targets, Lehman encouraged community members to look to Smitten Kitten’s work gathering and distributing donations, and do the same.
“The more places there are to distribute this type of thing, the harder it’s going to be for them to keep track of it.”
Smitten Kitten’s Instagram is @smittenkittenmn.
