As the last Occupy camps are dismantled, an unlikely force has emerged to keep the rag-tag protest movement going. A team of corporate leaders is joining forces to raise money for protesters, with some $300,000 collected so far. Among the members of the new Movement Resource Group are Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, of Ben & Jerry's fame, and Danny Goldberg, the former manager of Nirvana. The group hopes to raise $1.8 million, the Wall Street Journal reports.
About two-thirds of the money raised so far has come from the Ben & Jerry's Foundation and its steering committee, with another $60,000 provided by individuals. Some $150,000 will be used for a national movement office in New York. Starting next month, the team will join a group of protesters to review applications for project grants of $25,000. Some money will be used to provide stipends for "core activists." "Many of us have been working for progressive social change," says Cohen, but "there's been a critical ingredient missing." (More corporations stories.)