While folks cozy up around the dinner table this Thanksgiving, four Bay Area activists will be braving near-freezing temperatures in North Dakota to reinforce those protesting the controversial Dakota Access Pipeline.
Thanks to a GoFundMe page, which has gathered more than $4,000 worth of donations in 10 days, Eric Ruud and Joe Finkel from San Francisco along with Geri Keh and Kelsi Seid from Oakland will hand-deliver winter-resistant clothing, camping equipment, medical supplies and more once they reach the protest's front lines Thursday afternoon.
The team isn't there to just drop off the gear and hightail it back to the Bay Area. They want to become educated about this contentious battle feuding in America's heartland.
"It's an opportunity to help people who have asked for our help, to learn directly from the tribes, to meet like-minded people and to bring first person stories back to my friends and family," Ruud said.
During a two-week span following the Nov. 8 election, the team of four assembled and planned its course of action. Having more than $4,000 worth of donations at their disposal upon departing from the Bay Area was an added surprise.
"When I told my friends I was going, a friend reached out to me to ask how they could give me money for my expenses," Finkel said. "I hadn't even thought about fundraising. I was planning to go just to show up and help out, but when I saw the depth of feeling people had about this, I realized we could bring a lot more to the camp. Beyond bringing more to the camp, we could bring something to the table at home too, giving our friends a personal connection to a story that might have seemed out of reach."
Despite braving frigid conditions and violent confrontations with police, thousands of protesters remain committed to fighting against the interstate oil pipeline, which they say is a threat to clean drinking water supplies as well as a sign of disrespect to Native American burial and cultural grounds.
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Dallas-based Energy Transfer Partners, the organization behind the pipeline's ongoing construction, continues to reiterate that the 1,170-mile-long stretch of piping is safe and that crews are doing everything in their power to prevent potential leaks.
The four activists from the Bay Area are not necessarily inclined to assemble arms and protest. Their mission is to support those who are taking a stand in any way they can.
"If someone is asking for help you try your best to help them," Seid said. "That seems pretty basic. I don't know much about indigenous people, I don't think most Americans do which seems crazy since this is their land. So I am thrilled for an opportunity to learn about a culture and hopefully make a small impact on this important protest."
Demonstrators in the Bay Area have not been shy in voicing their disapproval with the pipeline. Roughly 2,000 activists took to the streets of San Francisco and students gathered at San Jose State University less than two weeks ago to raise awareness about the ongoing struggle and promote solidarity.
