This year, as Thanksgiving approached, I was decidedly thankful. For me and my household, 2009 was a bountiful year by any objective measure. However, both from my own circles as well as from news story after news story about the economy, it is painfully clear that the same was not true for many in MN and beyond.

So, when I as pushing my cart through the aisles of the grocery store, filling the cart with food for that one day, I couldn’t help but think about the statistic that impressed me most about Second Harvest Heartland when I first heard about the organization: that they turn every dollar donated into $9 worth of food to distribute.

Looking at my cart full of food (somewhere in the baking aisle), I came to a snap decision. For every dollar spent for my family gathering from the good year I had, I’d donate a matching dollar to Second Harvest, which they turn into nine dollars to help those who had more difficulty this year.

Once I decided, I’m fairly certain I started adding food to my cart with nearly reckless abandon. While I was feeding a fairly large group and for most of the day (not just the big meal), I was still startled when my cashier told me my total: $305.

However, I’m fairly certain she was even more startled when I grinned as I pulled out my wallet. I explained my plan to her as well as the 9:1 ratio from Second Harvest. As the giant receipt printed, she said she’d be telling other customers about the idea.

Over the next couple of days, I shared the idea with people over Twitter and in person. A few told me that they would join me on a different ratio or just giving a fixed donation and one quietly shared that their sister was actually someone who needed the help of a food shelf this year.

Earlier this week, I rounded my grocery bill up to $350 and made my donation. Based on that amazing ratio, Second Harvest will be able to distribute $3150 in food. After reflecting on the experience, I’m going to be doing this every Thanksgiving. Will you join me next year?

–
J Wynia
Minneapolis, MN
http://wynia.org

Tuesday, November 17 is “Give to the Max Day” on GiveMN, and that means your donations will be matched when made through our fundraising page on the GiveMN website.

The Saint Paul Foundation, Minneapolis Foundation and Bush Foundation have committed $500,000 in matching contributions to support community needs in Minnesota and to cover transaction fees so that 100% of all donations go to participating nonprofit organizations!

All you need to do is click here to visit the Second Harvest Heartland fundraising page on GiveMN. Donations made between 8:00 AM on Tuesday, November 17 and 8:00 AM Wednesday, November 18 will be matched!

Important: Donations made through our website will not be matched. You must make your donation via GiveMN to be eligible. Make your gift now!

Click the “ShareThis” link below to forward this info to your friends & family. Help us take advantage of this one-day match opportunity!

The Minnesota Vikings Children’s Fund, KS95 and Second Harvest Heartland thank all who participated in our Decorate a Plate/Share a Meal activity August 30th at the Minnesota State Fair!

Five lucky winners–Madison, Sally, Savannah, Briana and Kelsey–had their plates selected and  turned into actual dinner plates. Signed by Adrian Peterson, Percy Harvin and more Minnesota Vikings, the plates will be offered for silent auction during the Taste of the NFL event tonight. Proceeds from Taste of the NFL will help expand the Vikings Children’s Fund Summer Lunch program in 2010.

Congratulations to our lucky winners–and thanks for “stepping up to the plate” and helping ensure other kids in the community have enough to eat next summer.

To learn more about the Decorate a Plate/Share a Meal Contest Winners, click here.
     

Yesterday, we received an email from Andrew Blake, volunteer coordinator at Totino-Grace High School, who came to Irish Mountain Orchard this past weekend and volunteered with his wife and some students. “We found out about the opportunity in an e-newsletter from Second Harvest, and our school is always looking for new service opportunities,” Andrew said. “This was a homecoming service project for us, so my students were up the night before until probably 1:00 am coming home from the school dance or somebody’s house after the football game. We came from Fridley, MN so I had them come to school at 6:45 in the morning. Needless to say, they didn’t get a lot of rest the night before!”

Every year in Minnesota alone, an estimated 224 million pounds of unused food goes to waste. It’s the goal of Second Harvest Heartland and participating Minnesota Orchards to glean as many nutritious apples as possible before the winter freeze, and deliver them to the hungry families, children and seniors who need them most. With the dedication of volunteers like Andrew and his students, we hope to collect even more fresh apples from Minnesota orchards than we did last year–more than 200,000 pounds.

“As we were making the collection boxes, we couldn’t believe we would need that many. Of course once we started collecting apples, the group working boxes could hardly keep them coming fast enough,” Andrew continued. “I think one of my favorite parts of the whole thing was knowing that each apple would get to a family. For awhile, with each apple I picked I tried to imagine a kid who would get that apple at home or at school in their lunch. I even tried to say a small blessing over each one until I realized it was slowing me down as so I stopped praying and started picking faster!”

All of us at Second Harvest Heartland extend a hearfelt “thanks” to the students at Totino-Grace and all other volunteers who have helped with the apple gleaning initiative this fall. Your efforts are incredibly important, and we couldn’t do this work without your help.

Know that families, children and seniors in our community are enjoying the “fruits of your labor”–literally–and giving thanks for your generosity and hard work.

—
If you would like to learn more about how you can get involved with the volunteer program at Second Harvest Heartland, please click here. Simply fill out the short form, and someone will get back to you!
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2007-2008 was a pivotal time in establishing and growing programs and essential practice areas that support our mission of ending hunger through community partnerships. We recently released our Annual Report, and we wanted to take a moment to share with you some of our key discoveries, as well as provide you with online-access to the full report.

Already the 5th largest food distributor in the Feeding America national network of food banks, our innovative programming positioned us for rapid growth to respond to the needs of 960 agency partners in late 2008. Second Harvest Heartland is the second fastest-growing food bank in the nation, by pounds distributed year over year.

We are strengthened by our partners whose individual, corporate, community and foundational support bring relief to thousands of hungry families, children and seniors.

For access to the full report, which includes information about our Field Services expansion and new Food Sourcing initiatives, click here.

Play Golf America Day is a fun, free, festival featuring PGA Professional instruction, clinics, equipment demos from leading manufacturers, special events and more. The Town of Chaska Golf Course will be hosting the PGA Championship Play Golf America Day on Monday, August, 10, from 4- 7 p.m. to help kick off the PGA Championship, and to collect food donations for Second Harvest Heartland.

Minnesota PGA Professionals will be on hand to provide free intructions to attendees and 2008 PGA Distinguished Service Award Winner Dennis Walters will be performing one of his world reknowned golf shows.

Pre-register today at playgolfamerica.com and the first 250 people (limit 1 per household) that pre-register online and attend the event will receive two tickets for a PGA Championship practice round

All attendees are encouraged to bring at least one canned food item to donate to those in need.

Second Harvest Heartland’s new program, Giving Green, launched on Sunday at the Minneapolis Farmers Market. This program makes it easy for both growers and shoppers to donate produce to their neighbors in need.

On the first day of the partnership, we collected a “ton of food,”—literally! 2,200 pounds, to be exact—for working families, seniors and children who struggle with hunger.

Find us at the market every Sunday by the Information Booth until the market closes in the fall.

Thanks to the Farmers Market staff and all our volunteers who gave their time to ensure the success of this initiative.

Want more? Green Your Plate highlights which vegetables and fruits are in season locally, related recipes, and discussion of other related topics, including experiences at farmers markets, food co-ops, participating in a community-supported agriculture (CSA) farm share, local food producers, and food trends in the news.

A fun contest took place last weekend at the Taste of Minnesota — for a great cause. “The Other White Meat Tour” stopped by to find the Twin Cities’ #1 Pork Fan and pledged to provide 10 pounds of pork to Second Harvest Heartland for each entry received during the weekend.

Thirty-five local residents answered the call, generating a donation of 350 pounds of pork to Second Harvest Heartland on behalf of the National Pork Board.

Click here to see video of the winner’s rendition of Rush’s “Spirit of the Radio.”

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.

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.