Advocating for Aid: Vigil4Gaza
Meeting 5 p.m. every Sunday at the corner of Town & Country since December 2023, Vigil4Gaza has been consistently rallying in support of the Palestinian territory.
The group’s recent “Stop Starving Gaza” campaign is protesting what, according to the World Health Organization, is an ongoing famine in Gaza. More than half a million Gazans were in active starvation, according to a WHO report from August. The group has also raised over $60,000 for HEAL Palestine, a humanitarian nonprofit organization that facilitates the evacuation of Palestinian Children to the United States to receive medical care.
One organizer of Vigil4Gaza, Michelle Higgins, said that despite the weekly rallies at Town & Country being what the group is most known for, its work is varied.
“We’ve shown films, we’ve had book clubs, we’ve had marches downtown, so we’ve done a lot of different things,” Higgins said.
Higgins said that as a whole, the main goal of the group is to raise awareness for the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
“We can’t change the laws, we can’t change U.S. policy directly, but what we can do is really kind of force people to think about it,” Higgins said. “Palo Alto is a very wealthy place, and just for a moment at least, they have to see that this is happening and that our government is completely complicit in the starvation and the genocide that’s happening in Gaza.”
Protection for All: Rapid Response Network
Led by Sacred Heart Community Service, the Rapid Response Network in Santa Clara County responds to the presence of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents across Santa Clara County with a stated mission “to protect immigrant families from deportation threats.”
Concerned community members can call the Rapid Response Network’s hotline to report sightings of ICE or to receive assistance if ICE detains a loved one. According to Sacred Heart Community Service’s official website, The Rapid Response Network sends trained responders and community members to protect immigrants by conducting documentation to prove legal status or providing connections to legal support.
The Rapid Response Network provided such assistance on Aug. 25 at Stanford Hospital. The network was founded by Sacred Heart Community Service in 2016 and has been officially listed as a community resource by the City of San Jose.
Youth United for Community Action
Based in East Palo Alto, Youth United for Community Action (YUCA) is a grassroots organization that aims to empower young people to fight for environmental and social justice.
One way it achieves this goal is by organizing protests, such as a protest in July against East Palo Alto Ordinance 10.40, which would restrict and add a fee to street parking — something protesters said would disproportionately affect lower-class and multi-family homes.
YUCA also consistently hosts town halls focused on informing the community of local environmental issues. According to YUCA’s official website, YUCA has supported and trained over 650 low-income youth of color since 1994 to get involved in local issues impacting their communities — such as housing availability, environmental sustainability and gentrification.
Filiberto Zaragoza, a campaign organizer with YUCA who joined the organization in his sophomore year at Menlo-Atherton High School, said that the program made him feel like he could make a real difference in his community.
“At YUCA, you get real say in the decisions made within the space, and there is always a focus on education that wasn’t taught within a school’s curriculum,” Zaragoza said. “The space continues to empower me to make substantial change within the community, and now my role is to guide the next generation of youth to create their own change.”