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List of needs
Thanks to your generous donations to the #OccupySupply fund, we were able to purchase propane tanks so that #OccupyKStreet can cook without trying to use the sun, and the people living there can eat warm food. 100% of all the funds we receive will go to purchasing supplies that FDL Members will be delivering to #Occupy encampments across the country.
Jane and I woke up early yesterday morning and took a ride to the Target to buy supplies for people encamped at #OccupyKStreet. We then had to go to Maryland to buy propane, which is not sold in DC. It was a bit of an adventure but we managed to procure everything we set out to get. We used funds that were generously donated by people all across the country to the FDL Membership Program’s #OccupySuppy fund.
It has been a few days since Jane, Jon Walker and I were down on K Street delivering supplies they had previously requested, so we wanted to check in to see if their needs have changed. The camp had once again grown dramatically in only a few days. We also dropped off another tent and some supplies for refrigeration and hygiene. We had to get creative with the refrigeration, since it is not realistic to drag out a giant freezer and plug it into a tree. The kitchen crew were delighted with the freezer bags.
Jane Hamhser, Matt McKinnon, Bruce Olsson, Rooja
With cold weather approaching, the priority of the FDL Membership #OccupySupply program is helping people not only at #OccupyKStreet, but at #Occupy encampments across the country brace for winter. In DC, the weather forecast is showing mild weather in the mid to upper 60′s all week long. But it will not be the case for long, and cold temperatures are already hitting occupations in the north. So this time Jane, Jon and I brought along Matt McKinnon and Bruce Olsson from the Machinist’s Union with us to advise the people living at the camp on winterizing. Between them they had decades’ worth of experience in protesting in harsh conditions and protecting their people for extended periods of time. We spoke with representatives of the #OccupyKStreet comfort and winterizing committees, and we will be going to the winterizing committee meeting this Wednesday night t hear the plans they are developing and learn more about how we can best help them.
Delivering Propane
I got the chance to meet some amazing people yesterday. Rooja, who works in the finance department and on the winterizing committee; Austen who has been here for 4 days now; Kenny who maintains clothing and blankets to keep people comfortable; Craig who has been taking amazing photos and JC and Josh who operate the kitchen. They were all really interesting to speak with and very appreciative of the fact that we keep coming back to ask them what they need, and then bring it to them. They cannot thank you all enough for your support during this difficult effort, with more and more people arriving every day. And I cannot express in words how good it feels to help where we can. I hope that you all will be able to visit one of these occupations and witness firsthand the passion, dedication, and commitment these individuals have.
Camp at OccupyKStreet
Kevin Gosztola begins his 8 city tour to occupations in the midwest today, where he will be doing the same thing — joining FDL members to bring winterizing supplies to occupations in Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Missouri, Iowa and Wisconsin. Click here to donate to the FDL Membership #OccupySupply fund.
56 Comments
This is awesome! I was wondering what some of the ideas were for winterizing, so we can share them with Occupy Detroit (and the other Michigan citizens being occupied).
Going to donate now -
CORRECTION – “other Michigan CITIES being occupied” – (red faced grin)
“brought along Matt McKinnon and Bruce Olsson from the Machinist’s Union with us to advise the people living at the camp on winterizing. Between them they had decades’ worth of experience in protesting in harsh conditions and protecting their people for extended periods of time”
Such a good idea.
Just a suggestion to try to purchase items from local businesses instead of Target if possible.
Albuquerque’s site has had its permit revoked, and there is a sit-in at UNM at the President’s office, police present at this time, the President has locked down the building to prevent people from coming and going to his office.
Please e-mail President Schmidley (unmpres@unm.edu) and ask for continued use of the park at UNM for Camp Coyote. There was an incident over the weekend when a man with a knife threatened people at the Camp. This is being used as a reason to shut it down, despite that the person with the knife came to the camp, it was not any of the Occupiers who were dangerous.
If you are on FB, you can find up to date info on the Occupy Burque (official) site. Here it is called an (Un)Occupation in support of indigenous people.
Have to remember that a majority of these people have never done any winter camping, if they’ve camped at all. They’ll need all the help/advice they can get.
Great going, guys. Knowing that they have credible and tangible outside support will help keep morale up.
BTW, they mske refrigerators that operate on propane, in case elec. is hard to come by. They’re not cheap, but available. Check out RV supply stores.
Lotta talent with Alan Stivell. Thanks for turning me on to him.
BTW, just in case you didn’t know, demi and Palast went to high school together and are good friends. She sent me an extra signed copy of one of his books a year or so ago.
So welcome about Alan Stivell.
She and I exchanged emails and have chatted and we talked about Palast and the book.
damn, hit reply, I guess.
Chatted via email, I mean. I for some reason thought he was from somewhere other than the US. Now that would be a great friend and contact, whew.
Target Corporation? The corp known for supporting “anti gay” politicians?
Hooooooooo boy.
I don’t remember the details but he was pretty much exiled after a couple of articles really pissed off the mucky mucks. Got a chance to talk to him at a speech he did here on a book tour. WMNF sponsored it so he had a really receptive audience. Nice dude.
Good going. Thank you.
Sure sign he was doing it right! Love his articles but haven’t read any of his books. I’ve spent too much time in the barn and need to make up for some lost reading time.
Wonderful!
This also lets them know that there are many more supporters than just those in the parks with them.
Go, FDL! You all show everyday that you actually walk the walk.
There’s a huge difference between being a consumer forced into limited selections in the marketplace and supporting the political activities of a corporation.
Why is it so difficult for your ilk to understand that?
If they get wet it doesn’t have to be very cold for them to get in big trouble real fast.
Hypothermia is no joke.
What do you expect them to do, make their own propane?
They’re consumers, not producers.
And one of the first things that happens is one doesn’t think clearly and makes very bad decisions. Not good, in any situation.
Those down jackets and such from LL Beans may look nice on the slopes at Aspen but they won’t keep ya warm if they get wet. Wool’s the only way to go.
Have you ever been really wet and cold? Yes, wool has saved my a$$ more than once.
Really excited you’re interested in volunteering to do all the research to find local stores who sell each item on the lists we’ve given, and then find people who will drive to all of them, pick up the stuff and get it to the Occupations. Since we are working so hard trying to get Kevin to encampments all across the country, we’ve been forced to go to places that are close by and have everything we need in one place in order to do it at all.
We’ve got 8 cities in the next 10 days. Some are in small midwestern towns, and we won’t know what they need until Kevin gets there and asks, so you may be up into the wee hours of the morning locating everything. If the stores are not open before Kevin has to leave for the next city, it may also require that you find local people who can go to all of these places. And the pressure will be on, because people will be out there hungry and cold until you get all the supplies to them.
It’s a full time job for several people, so kudos to you for volunteering. Where can we contact you to get you started?
Makes it easier to whine about shit.
In my neighborhood we call that a sick burn.
Yep, not at all pleasant. I may have been the fashion clown on the slopes but my Navy uniform trousers and Pea coat kept me warmer than anybody else.
Perhaps try to use local suppliers when possible would be an acceptable suggestion?
*huge snort* *g*
There are such amazing new fabrics for wet and cold conditions now. Expensive, but probably worth it.
My mind boggles at the thought of Edmund Hillary, Ernest Shackleton and all the early explorers who didn’t have any of those advantages. Shiver.
Limited selection? In the United States? Wait what?
You are our only hope!
I have this thing, it’s called an Ipad, you have probably heard of it as many of the poor and downtrodden at OWS seem to have one just like it.
Anyhoo, on this Ipad thing I can do all sorts of research using a system developed by a guy named Al Gore, research such as places to get propane. A quick check in the small burg in which I live produced no less than 6 places to get propane, all of which were small local businesses.
Let’s just say I’m concerned that the “Occuption” is contributing to the corporitization of government by shopping at a large, influential, anti gay corporation. But hey, I know you have a busy schedule so cutting a few corners is acceptable.
“We then had to go to Maryland to buy propane, which is not sold in DC.”
I don’t see anything about getting propane at Target.
You might also find that getting things such as paper plates and other mundane supplies for an encampment like this at numerous small locally owned businesses burns up time and gas. Plus it’s not their money their spending, it’s mine and a lot of other people here. I appreciate the efficiency and pragmatism.
You seem to have plenty of time, money and gas so go for it.
ON edit: money they’re spending…
These are the people FDL wants to associate with? Come on Jane lets raise the bar!
http://boston.cbslocal.com/2011/10/24/pair-living-with-occupy-boston-protesters-arrested-for-selling-heroin/
http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2011/10/24/accusations-of-teen-runaway-sexual-activity-at-occupy-dallas/
http://news.yahoo.com/occupy-wall-street-consumed-crime-wave-194500180.html
Excellent.
If this is your idea of a shiny object, it would make a cat laugh.
Yikes, it did make me notice the time stamp. Thanks.
good afternoon, pupses
ohmmmm
Eh, I’m not as mobile as I would like to be these days, getting around can be difficult.
Why not organize in these cities before they’re reached, call out to the people to get mobilized and have some infrastructure waiting. I suppose you could wire or electronically transfer funds but that would mean using one of those icky banks.
It just seems sort of odd to me that the “Occupations” seem to be so reliant on outside help and not very self-sufficient; it doesn’t bode well for the staying power of the whole enterprise.
Just keep whinin’, it’s what you do best.
Are you a member here at FDL? If you were, you would’ve gotten an email a few hours ago inviting you to a webinar and conference call tomorrow night to do exactly what you just suggested. Organize locally to assist in distributing #OccupySupply funds…
That is pretty amusing, isn’t it?
I wonder what the ratio is of people in big business and government convicted of similar crimes vs. the ratio of people at various occupations.
Well, ya know these perfect human beings that want to control the world. Those 3 items prolly made BackEast apoplectic so s/he just had to run over here and tell us how depraved etc the Occupiers are.
BackEast, you can go back to wankin’ and readin’ your Bible now.
Doesn’t surprise me that you would want to be linked to drug addicts and pedophiles.
Makes me think of that great response you had a ways back to pearl clutcher like that:
Sex. Try it. You might like it.
*petite snort*
Get my smelling salts, someone, please.
to SD, it was meant. you know me and these nested comments…. tsk, tsk
Kris, all Mz. Hamsher left out was a ” . . . and bless yer little heart.”
*G*
FDL, Occupy Coverage & Support of the finest quality.
Blessings to all involved, 8 cities in 10 days . . .
Let The Occupied Bus Roll On!
Thanks. It was great having those guys down there. They really know their stuff and even more importantly, people listen to them. Its one thing for people to say that you need to stay warm, but having these protest veterans in place at each occupy location giving advice and real ideas makes the difference.
great idea to buy local!
“Don’t you NEVER, EVER, let some knucklehead stand on your corner . . . ”
Yer On Our Corner.
Any ideas on winterizing might be best presented two waysw: with tents and without. The cold is coming back to OccupyKC (Kansas City) tomorrow, and the police/city have said tents are not an option.
Sent Pres Schmidley an email reminding him about the first amendment and how it’s important to take care of the people who want our government to take care of people, not corporations. Thanks for letting us know.
It looks like one of the tents in that top picture is a yurt, the type of circular insulated tent that Mongolian nomads traditionally use. The occupy groups should think about getting yurts, because they’re insulated from the cold and would help them get through the winter. There are several yurt suppliers on the Internet that have good quality yurts available.
Hey Rafe wrt your iPad:
From the Wall Street Journal: “Measuring the Human Cost of an iPad Made in China” http://tinyurl.com/6ewg4pd
From Electrical Engineering Times: “Apple reveals increasing Chinese child-labor problem” http://tinyurl.com/3j5f2d4
From TIME Magazine: “Another Slavery Scandal in China” http://tinyurl.com/3fbytyf
Find out what they need and supply it. This is why I love FDL. I am a poor person and I can prove it. But I will contribute on a monthly basis. Thanks Jane.
I’ve been so impressed with the determination & courage of the Occupiers, despite the extreme difficulties constantly presenting themselves,I am now a superemotional idiot,crying at the drop of a word.
I will contribute monthly as well