As you may have noticed, 2harvest.org, as well as this blog, recently got a face lift! We’re excited about this new portal into our work, and hope it will make it easier for you to manage your relationship with us, as well as your communication preferences. After you have a few minutes to poke around, please click here to tell us what you think. We value your feedback!
Some new features include:
- Updated information on our programs, such as Plant a Row and Food Rescue
- Options to “go further” and connect with us online - the blog, Twitter, Facebook and more
- Even more ways you can join the fight to end hunger in our community
You may notice the new “Create your account” section on the right-hand side of the homepage. Creating an account and logging into the site will allow you to manage your communication preferences. It will also enable us to let you know about upcoming events and volunteer opportunities, according to your history with us, and the preferences you select. (Note: if you’ve ever made an online donation or received an email newsletter, you’re already in the system. Simply click here to retrieve your login information.)
Thanks for your ongoing support! Feel free to leave a comment on this post should you have any questions about the new site.
What does 700 boxes, 21,000 pounds or 10.5 tons feel like? It feels good! That’s the amount of food that a small team of Bremer employees packed for people who use this service from Second Harvest Heartland.
It was fun to feel good while doing good! Our team members were all ‘workers’ – no one slacked off and everyone seemed to work up a bit of a sweat. Our staff coordinator told us we didn’t need to ‘kill ourselves’ and yet none of the Bremer folks turned off their ‘Taking Action’ mentality as they packed the 700 boxes in just under three hours.
Learned some interesting facts – one in 10 seniors lives in poverty in the U.S. These are people who probably worked hard their whole lives and now find themselves struggling just to feed themselves – there’s something wrong with that formula. Also found out that if you mix powdered milk with condensed milk you end up with 2% milk!
As volunteer opportunities go, this one was great. We all felt like we were making a significant contribution and that contribution would directly impact – and hopefully improve – the lives of some of our neighbors.
Bremer Bank kicked off its fourth annual “Taking Action Against Hunger” campaign this week! Bremer recognizes the growing need for food during the summer months, when more families utilize food shelves as children are home from school and do not have access to subsidized meal programs.
“Bremer’s vision is to build healthy communities through partnerships,” said CEO and President Steve Meads. “We believe we can achieve this vision by meeting basic needs in our communities, and ending hunger seems like a great place to start. We invite everybody in the community to help us take action to end hunger. Thanks for your valued partnership and effort.”
Want to help Bremer Take Action Against Hunger this month? Anytime between now and the end of the month, you can stop by your local Bremer Bank, make a donation online or send a check to: Second Harvest Heartland, attn: Taking Action Against Hunger,1140 Gervais Ave., St. Paul, MN 55109.
With a requested minimum donation of $5, you can receive a reusable grocery tote available at all Bremer Bank locations while supplies last! If you donate online or send a check, please bring a copy of your receipt or check to the bank to receive a reusable grocery tote.
We’re excited to announce a first-time partnership with the Minnesota Vikings and Hunger Solutions which will help provide an additional 200,000 meals to be distributed in Minnesota through the existing Summer Feeding program for children in our community!
The Minnesota Vikings have donated a generous $92,000 to this effort, which will help expand the existing USDA-sponsored program. “The Vikings Children’s Fund aims to positively impact the well-being of our children and help provide them with the means to be healthy, strong and vibrant members of our community as they grow,” said Steve LaCroix, vice president of sales and marketing, chief marketing officer with the Minnesota Vikings. “Proper nutrition will always be essential to a child’s well-being, which is why the Vikings are honored to participate in this program with Hunger Solutions Minnesota and Second Harvest Heartland.”
During the schoolyear, 270,000 children in Minnesota depend on free and reduced-cost school lunches - but only 20% of those children receive the same subsidized meals during the summer.
Together, we can help increase participation in the program and provide more meals to hungry children in our community. Visit www.missingmeals.org to learn more about this exciting new initiative, or visit www.hungersolutions.org.
At Dish: Cuisine for Change on April 30th, we auctioned off four backstage, “meet and greet” passes for Bruce Springsteen’s concert at the Xcel Energy Center last week. Pictured below are the winning bidders with Bruce himself!
From left to right: Pat Geraghty, the CEO of Blue Cross, Blue Shield; Pat’s wife Heather Geraghty; Bruce Springsteen; Shirley Hughes, secretary of Second Harvest’s Board of Directors and a retired Vice President of Ceridian Corporation; Shirley’s niece Roxanne Allen
Head over to Flickr or view the slideshows below to see pictures from the events. (Credit to Kim A. Taylor Photography and Fly By Night Graphics, Ltd.)
The National Association of Letter Carriers is at it again, collecting food and monetary donations nationwide to feed our hungry neighbors. With the weakened economy and the increased demand for emergency food, there’s an urgent need to help feed those children, working families and seniors in our communities who are struggling to put food on the table.
This year’s goal for Stamp Out Hunger: Minneapolis/St. Paul is just over 1 million pounds of food - collected in one day! But to accomplish this incredible feat, we need your help.
It’s easy to participate!
1. This week, look for a blue plastic bag in your mailbox. Fill it with non perishable food items (no homemade items or glass containers, please) and set it by your mailbox on Saturday, May 9th. Your letter carrier will do the rest.
2. Donate online, or stop into your nearest TCF Branch to make a cash donation. For each $5 donated, Second Harvest Heartland can distribute $45 worth of food and grocery products to our hungry neighbors.
3. Sign up to volunteer at one of 28 Cub Foods locations on May 9!
More and more people in our community need our help. Will you join us in this effort to Stamp Out Hunger in the Twin Cities?
For the past year I’ve been writing a personal finance blog at www.biblemoneymatters.com talking about my faith and finances, and writing daily articles about how to get out of debt, save, give and prosper.
A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to enter a competition for personal finance writers at FreeMoneyFinance.com. 64 bloggers submitted one of their best articles about personal finance in hopes of being voted the champion. The final four articles to remain standing in the competition would all receive a donation to the charity of their choice.
Choosing a charity was an easy task for me. Growing up my father worked for many years at a Downtown Minneapolis food shelf. Through his work there I was able to see first hand the impact that local food shelves, and food banks like Second Harvest Heartland, can have on a community. Not only are they able to feed people who are hungry and in need, but they’re able to give hope to the those in need when they’re going through tough times.
A friend of mine worked at Second Harvest Heartland, and through him I knew of the good work that they were doing. After doing some research on the Second Harvest website I found that for each $1 donated, they are able to distribute more than $9 worth of groceries to those in need. In addition, 96% of each dollar of revenue goes directly to the programs, so I knew my donation would be put to good use. Second Harvest’s mission was one I wanted to support, so I chose them as my charity.
Since I was competing with 64 other very good bloggers, I wasn’t expecting to make it very far. To my surprise, after four rounds of voting I was still standing and on my way to the final four. Because I had made it to the finals, I knew that I would at least be able to make a $100 donation to Second Harvest, which was exciting. Then after winning a hard-fought semi-final matchup, I moved on to a the championship round where the winner would receive a $500 donation to their charity. And after several days of roller coaster voting, I was able to pull out a victory by a tiniest of margins, two votes. With those two votes it was ensured that Second Harvest Heartland would receive a $500 donation to help feed families in need.
The $500 donation we were able to make through this contest may not seem like much, but with Second Harvest Heartland’s help that $500 will help distribute more than $4500 worth of groceries. Our small donation will make a huge impact!
My desire is that others will be inspired by this small victory and be moved to donate as well. You may not feel like you’re giving very much, but every little bit helps! Your $5 donation will provide 20 meals to the hungry! That’s an amazing impact from such a small donation. If you’re thinking about donating today, just do it, you’ll receive far more in return than you’ll ever give.
It’s not just the economy that causes people to need hunger relief. There are plenty of other reasons our neighbors find themselves in dire situations – health issues, unforeseen personal emergencies, natural disasters … And now, as those in Fargo, North Dakota and the surrounding Red River Valley towns are enduring the worst flooding in their history, all of us at Second Harvest Heartland are proud to do what we can to help make this difficult time a bit easier for those affected – some of whom are losing everything.
On Friday, at the request of the Emergency Response Team, we sent a truck filled with 30,000 pounds of bottled water and granola bars to the Fargo area for volunteers working on the ground there. And this past Monday, we filled a semi-trailer with approximately 30,000 pounds of ready-to-eat food items for victims of the flood. Our ability to respond to this immediate request for food is due to the fact that we are part of an emergency relief system that is at-the-ready to respond when crises strike. In addition, we thank you – our dedicated supporters – for providing the support it takes to allow us to help out our neighbors in such a crisis.
Our thoughts and prayers are with all of those who are facing the devastation of flooding in Fargo and Moorhead and all of those who are doing what they can to help.
Second Harvest Heartland is the Upper Midwest's largest hunger-relief organization, striving to end hunger through community partnerships. We form the backbone of organizations working together to efficiently alleviate hunger in 59 counties throughout Minnesota and Western Wisconsin. Read More...
