We are a hockey family. Our weekends are usually defined by early mornings, cold rinks, and long drives to games. But lately, those drives have felt heavy. The things we see out the window have changed, and naturally, so has the conversation in the car.
Like everyone else in the Twin Cities, we were watching the news. We saw the images of the occupation. We were heartbroken by the murder of Renée Good. But for my wife Annie and our daughters, Aria (12) and Ellie (10), it wasn’t just something on a screen.
The Drive That Changed Things
On our way to a tournament game recently, we witnessed an ICE arrest firsthand. It was jarring.
The ICE arrest we saw firsthand.
For Ellie, it immediately became personal. She started worrying about her friends at school who looked like the people we saw being detained. She was scared for them.
For Aria, it was different. She started asking questions—the kind of direct, logical questions that kids ask and adults struggle to answer. She wanted to know why this was happening, and how it was allowed. As parents, Annie and I found it hard to give her good answers because the situation just didn’t make sense. It’s hard to explain injustice to a 12-year-old when you can’t make sense of it yourself.
Then came the murder of Alex Pretti. The heaviness in our community was undeniable.
The breaking point for us happened on I-94. We were driving into Minneapolis for another tournament game, passing under the bridges that cross the highway. We looked up and saw crowds of protesters standing in the cold, holding signs, demanding justice and chanting “ICE OUT!”
It was quiet in the car for a moment, and then Ellie said something to us that I won’t forget:
“I want to go and protest.”
That was the moment we realized we couldn’t just drive past it anymore. We started small—buying groceries and supplies for families in need—but then I felt the itch to do something more.
Enter the Nerd Dad
I’ll admit it: I am a massive Star Wars nerd.
When I stumbled upon the “Rebel Loon” concept (originally a public domain design by Bernardo Anderson), my nerd brain immediately lit up. It looked just like the Alliance Starbird—the symbol of the rebels. I started tweaking it to make it “ours.” I added the colors of our new state flag—the deep “Night Sky” blue and the water blue. I added the 8-point North Star as the eye.
The Minnesota Rebel Loon
It became a symbol that said: We are Minnesota. We are resilient. And we are watching.
But staring at that finished design, I realized it needed to do something. I wanted to see this symbol out in the wild. I wanted to look around the Twin Cities—at the grocery store, the rink, or the park—and see this bird on people’s chests. I wanted a way for us to show our pride in being Minnesotans, while also signaling that we stand with our neighbors during these hard times.
We knew that the families affected by these arrests needed legal protection—and that costs money. That’s when it clicked: We could print this design on shirts to support the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota (ILCM) .
Finding Afternoon Printing
I had the art and the mission, but I didn’t want to use some faceless internet drop-shipping site. I wanted this to benefit the community, so the money needed to stay here.
I started researching local shops and found Afternoon Printing in South Minneapolis. I looked at their team photos, read their bios, and scrolled through their Instagram . I saw real people who cared about their craft and their community. I sent a “cold email” explaining the idea: a fundraiser where 100% of the profits went to the ILCM to help our neighbors.
I expected a standard “here are our rates” reply. Instead, I got a partner.
Kristen and her team at Afternoon Printing didn’t just say yes; they stepped up. They waived upfront costs. They set up the web-store. When the Reddit post took off, they didn’t panic. They handled hundreds of orders without blinking. When we hit a snag with a sales tax glitch, they addressed it immediately.
The Result What started as a way to help my daughters process their fear and confusion has turned into something incredible. Because of this community, we received a total of 617 orders and raised almost $33,000 in sales in just five days.
That means we are going to be handing a massive check of $17,700 to the ILCM to help them fight for people like the ones we saw on that drive to the hockey rink.
To everyone who bought a shirt, shared the link, or just liked the post: Thank you! You showed my girls that when things get scary, we don’t just watch. We act.