Every month, Second Harvest Heartland delivers food to kids at eight Twin Cities elementary schools through the innovative Meals for Minds program. With funding from Target, Second Harvest Heartland is able to deliver food directly to families in need by hosting mobile, pop-up food pantries right at the kids’ schools. Since Meals for Minds’ inception in 2010, more than 460,000 pounds of food have been distributed, providing enough food for more than 350,000 meals for families.

To celebrate Global Youth Service Day, we asked kids at Meals for Minds schools to submit their ideas for posters spotlighting child hunger. Kindergartners, 4th and 6th graders at Pillsbury Elementary School and Maxfield Magnet School broke out the markers, pencils and crayons to issue a call to Minnesotans to help the 1 in 8 children at risk of hunger.

Take a look at their awesome posters to see what kids are saying about hunger in Minnesota. The contest’s three winners—Mie L., Jason S., and Aurora—received a Target gift certificate and will have their posters framed and displayed at Second Harvest Heartland for the year!

One look will remind you that hunger is an issue that affects all of us—especially children—and one that we can all do something about. Second Harvest Heartland welcomes young people and families to join us in our mission to end hunger. Check out our website to learn how adults and youth can get involved today.

Congratulations to the winners and finalists, and thank you to everyone who participated!

Thanks again to the nearly 1,000 of our friends, donors, volunteers and other supporters who came out to Dish: Cuisine for Change on April 19. The event raised over $500,000 that will help us provide more food for our neighbors in need!

Check out our Flickr set of photos from this year’s event, and the Harvest to Home video which premiered that evening. Special thanks to Tom Dunn for the volunteer photography and Broad Daylight for video sponsorship.

The annual Minnesota FoodShare March Campaign starts up once again as we enter the late months of a tamer-than-usual winter season. For those of you unfamiliar, March 1^st marks the start of this ambitious campaign, which aims to restock over 300 Minnesota food shelves for the hungry. Through the past decade, Minnesota FoodShare has worked to provide over 12 million dollars and pounds of food to food shelves around the state.

The March Campaign is the largest food drive of the year. It recruits thousands of congregations, companies, schools and civic groups to run local food and fund drives to aid in the effort.

With close to 10% of people in our region at risk of hunger, it is campaigns like this that keep our communities close knit and hunger-free.

Click here for more information on the Minnesota FoodShare March Campaign.

Did you know that more than 500,000 people in Wisconsin are at risk of missing a meal tonight? But this year, you can help make a difference in their lives by getting them the food they need while filing your taxes.

Everyone knows filing taxes can be complicated, but making a donation to help hungry children, families and seniors is easy.  Simply choose to donate $25, $50 or as much as you are able on line 27i of the short form or on line 37i of the long form on the Wisconsin state income tax form. All funds raised will be distributed to Feeding America food banks in Wisconsin that provide assistance to those in need throughout the state.

We’re grateful to the state of Wisconsin for making charitable giving a part of the tax refund process, and hope you will help us get food to the people who desperately need it.

We often tell you about upcoming events, volunteer activities or how you can make a financial contribution to help our neighbors in need, but our promotional opportunities give you the chance to make a difference right in your own neighborhood.

Often times, in an effort to help do even more, local businesses will offer promotions to benefit Second Harvest Heartland. Restaurants such as Famous Dave’s give you the chance to round up your bill to the nearest dollar and they will donate the extra funds to us. Or, if you’re a frequent Lunds and Byerly’s shopper, consider picking up one of their reusable bags. For each bag you bring with you to shop, they will donate five cents. Other promotions include a free windshield repair just for bringing in a non-perishable food item on the first Wednesday of the month to Auto Glass Today.

Check out all of our promotions designed to help those in need and promote awareness. And be sure to stop back again soon to view other promotions.

If you or your organization has a promotion you would like to offer on behalf of Second Harvest Heartland, let us know.

In just one month, the seventh annual Vintner Ball will once again be held at the Westin Edina Galleria. Join us on February 25 for this world-class, charitable wine tasting event—one you won’t want to miss.  You’ll enjoy an evening of some of the finest wines from around the world, gourmet hors d’oeuvres, and participate in a silent auction and wine seminars.  Even more, 100% of the proceeds from this event benefit Second Harvest Heartland! Because all associated costs are underwritten by the hosts and all the wine, food, auction items, marketing and facility use by donation, every dollar collected can go directly to getting more food into the hands of the people that need it.

Over the last six years, nearly $800,000 has been raised at the Vintner Ball on behalf of Second Harvest Heartland—that’s enough to provide food for nearly three million meals for our hungry neighbors.  We hope to do even more this year, but we can’t do it without you.

Join us for the 2012 Vintner Ball and help us generate warmth in the heart during the chill of winter. Tickets for the Vintner Ball are on sale now. You can RSVP here for easy registration or purchase tickets at the door the night of the event.

WCCO Radio, Taste of the NFL, General Mills, and Land O’Lakes are together again presenting the third annual Let’s Kick Hunger Day Radiothon tomorrow from 5am to 6pm at the Mall of America.

Through collaboration and support of the community, this event has generated funds to aid in the fight against hunger, supporting Second Harvest Heartland and 32 food banks through Taste of the NFL. Join the effort this year to help us do even more for our neighbors in need.

Participating in the radiothon is easy. Simply tune into WCCO Radio or stop by the Mall of America to become a Hunger Hero. Just $10 per month for a year or a one-time gift of $120 will help provide 840 meals to the hungry children, families and older adults in our community. To get involved, call 877.866.4376 between 5am to 6pm on Thursday, or click here to make a donation.

We hope you can join us in helping Kick Hunger!

Again this year, Open Your Heart awarded Second Harvest Heartland with a grant that helped to bring more food to more people in our community. As the only charitable federation in Minnesota dedicated solely to alleviating hunger and homelessness, Open Your Heart truly makes an impact on our community.

Fresh food such as watermelon, sweet corn, plums and potatoes are generally costly and difficult to obtain. But thanks to this grant, we were able to provide nearly 700,000 pounds of this fresh, nutritious produce this past year to those in our community who are hungry—the equivalent of more than 564,000 meals.

Sincere thanks to Open Your Heart for helping to bring more fresh food to the children, working families and seniors who are struggling to put food on the table.

The weather outside might be frightful—or at least cold, but that doesn’t mean that you have to stay inside this holiday season! This year, the IBEW Holidays Light in the Park is brighter than ever and offers the perfect way to spend an enjoyable evening and give back to the community.

Travel through St. Paul’s Phalen Park to view more than 50 larger-than-life holiday sculptures and animated displays, all from the comfort of your own car. And this year, there’s even an Enchanted Fairytale Forest—a handsome prince, a beautiful princess, horse and carriage, fantastic castle, mischievous wizard, and of course a fire-breathing dragon!

The event is open now through January 1 and a portion of the proceeds benefit Second Harvest Heartland and other local charities. Gather your family and friends and enjoy a holiday night in the park.

For more information, visit the Holiday Lights in the Park website.

Over the last few months, our Food Sourcing team has been working closely with the Minnesota Farm Bureau Foundation to renew and expand our partnership. In June, their Board of Directors toured our warehouse, and then we joined them at their Young Farmers and Ranchers Committee tours in Cass County. And recently, our team was invited to attend the Minnesota Farm Bureau Federation Annual Meeting.

During the Annual Meeting, Farm Bureau leaders volunteered at our service center in Minneapolis. The group helped sort and package food for our neighbors in need. The Farm Bureau also took the time to visit with us and learn how they can continue to help.

To give even more, the Minnesota Farm Bureau Foundation donated $1,000, with a challenge that once 1,000 “likes” are reached on the Minnesota Farmers Care Facebook page, another $1,000 will be donated.

As we continue to look to new ways to bring more fresh food to our neighbors in need, this partnership is more important than ever. Our Agricultural Surplus initiative—From Harvest to Home—works with farmers to collect excess produce and get it into the hands of those who are hungry. By partnering with the Farm Bureau, we can connect with more farmers to raise awareness of the program.

Tony Mans, our Director of Food Sourcing says that he is excited about the relationship with the Minnesota Farm Bureau. “This group will be extremely beneficial in helping us spread awareness and expand our From Harvest to Home program and we can’t thank them enough for their support,” he said.

We look forward to continue working with the Minnesota Farm Bureau to help bring more food to more people.  You can help the Minnesota Farmers Care Facebook Page get 1,000 “Likes.” Click here to “like” them now.

Members of the Food Sourcing team with Kristen Harner, from the Minnesota Farm Bureau Foundation