Every week, Mark volunteers at Second Harvest Heartland with our senior nutrition program.

As a high school student in Anoka, Mark participated in National Honor Society, maintained a 3.9 GPA and was an athlete excelling in football, track and basketball. But from early adulthood on, Mark has also lived with a sometimes debilitating mental illness. Mark spent much of his life homeless in California, Wisconsin and Illinois, estranged from his family and afraid they would be ashamed of him.

“I was standing by the food stand, measuring out pennies to buy a quarter pound of peanuts,” Mark described a vivid memory of the food that he couldn’t afford when he was homeless.

Now in his 50s, Mark has found a sense of stability that revolves around helping others. He has tremendous empathy for those who have struggled to live full, dignified lives while struggling to find enough food.

“People don’t like homeless people because they have needs—to bathe somewhere, eat somewhere,” Mark observes without bitterness.

And for those people, Second Harvest Heartland and the 1,000 partner agencies we serve are crucial: “There’s no other way to get food.”

Mark’s own memories of food shelves and shelters are laced with stories of generosity—people who gave him food which he would often give away to other people in need.

Now Mark volunteers in the Second Harvest Heartland office, where he maintains files for a senior nutrition program and enjoys the structure and camaraderie of service.

“I enjoy working with these other men and women,” he smiles. “We’re all making a contribution.”

In honor of National Volunteer Appreciation Week, Second Harvest Heartland would like to thank all of our wonderful volunteers who have donated a tremendous amount of time and energy in support of our mission.

With the help of 19,000 volunteers participating in a variety of projects, from repackaging and labeling, to working directly with CSFP and SNAP clients, our volunteers have donated more than 99,000 hours of their time in 2012!

Thank you Second Harvest volunteers for devoting your time to fight hunger and feed hope! If you’d like to learn more about how you can get involved, visit our website for upcoming opportunities.

Thanks to wristbands.net for providing volunteer wristbands this week!

Second Harvest Heartland West is buzzing with the sounds of volunteers from the Minnesota chapter of National Charity League (NCL), an organization that strengthens the mother-daughter bond through service activities. “National Charity League provides a unique platform to have one-on-one time with your child,” says Sue LaCroix, who volunteers with her 16-year old daughter Katie. “The older she gets, the busier she is, so it’s a great way to expose my daughter to the issue of hunger and get her involved.”

Sue’s desire to connect NCL’s 200 members with a family-friendly, high-impact organization led her to Second Harvest Heartland. Our flexible schedule made getting involved easy. The NCL group first volunteered at the Bring Your Child to Serve event on Martin Luther King Day in January, and is planning to bring groups of up to 20 moms and daughters at a time each month going forward.

During their most recent volunteer shift, Sue, Katie and eight other members of NCL sorted fresh, donated produce to distribute to students at Harvest Prep/Best Academy. Second Harvest Heartland partners with the school to set up a monthly Meals for Minds pantry where students can pick up free groceries.

This volunteer experience “changed the way we think about the food we have at home,” Sue said. “Katie and I had a great discussion on our way home.”

Rachel Flynn has been on a mission to help those in need, one meal at a time, ever since a family trip to Mexico brought her face-to-face with hungry children her own age when she was 5 years old.

In the years following her Mexico trip, Rachel volunteered regularly at Feed My Starving Children and organized meal-packing events at her church that raised 56,000 meals for hungry children abroad. As she worked to raise awareness of hunger worldwide, she realized that many of our neighbors are struggling to feed themselves right here in our own communities.

Now 14, Rachel has been volunteering with Second Harvest Heartland each week since August 2012. Twice per month, Rachel and her mom, Amy Flynn, sort and pack donated food into family-size portions to go to local food shelves and feeding programs. They also volunteer twice each month with Meals for Minds, Second Harvest Heartland’s mobile school pantry program.

Volunteering is just one part of Rachel’s larger mission to end hunger working alongside Second Harvest Heartland. Rachel also works to raise awareness of hunger as a member of Second Harvest Heartland’s volunteer Speakers Bureau, speaking at fundraisers and educational events.

Thank you, Rachel, for your passionate and enthusiastic support!

To learn how you can get involved with Second Harvest Heartland, click here.

Mike Kothbauer, a longtime volunteer and supporter of Second Harvest Heartland, has volunteered in just about as many ways one could ever envision: He’s worked the phones at the Let’s Kick Hunger Day Radiothon; sorted, packed and labeled food; worked the assembly line; and now makes calls to seniors and others eligible for federal food assistance programs to remind them that their monthly box of food is ready for pick up.

Like many of our volunteers, Mike started volunteering at Second Harvest Heartland through his employer, Land O’Lakes. And now that he is retired, he still participates in community service through Land O’Lakes’ retiree volunteer program, a service-focused program for retirees to stay active and involved in their community.

And stay active Mike does—for the last two years, Mike has donated over 100 hours of volunteer service to Second Harvest Heartland each year. To recognize him for his superior community service, the Land O’Lakes Foundation has donated $500 to Second Harvest Heartland each year as part of their Dollars for Doers program.

We enjoy seeing Mike around the office every week, and appreciate all the time he’s donated to us over the years. Thank you Mike for all you do!

To learn how you can get involved with Second Harvest Heartland, click here.

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!