Retired pharmacist Tom Ramsey, 73, said there are hopeful signs in his hometown. He’s lived in St. Cloud for three decades and is part of an interfaith group that includes Catholics, Lutherans, Mormons and Muslims. Some people have “referred to St. Cloud as ‘White Cloud,’ ” he said. “I hope it’s changing over time.”

As the event ended, Ibrahim watched strangers become new friends, exchanging phone numbers. She said she hopes the effort inspires a growing community of people of all faiths to come together to counter hate.

“We’ve had issues in our community,” she said. “We wanted to do something about that and be bridge builders.”

Kelly Smith covers nonprofits/philanthropy for the Star Tribune and is based in Minneapolis. Since 2010, she’s covered Greater Minnesota on the state/region team, Hennepin County government, west metro suburban government and west metro K-12 education.


[email protected]  612-673-4141  @kellystrib