In July of 2009, Second Harvest Heartland teamed up with the Minneapolis Farmers Market to collect produce from vendors and shoppers during the growing season. The collaboration quickly caught the attention of Market-goers, growers and the media—all of whom recognize the importance of delivering fresh produce to our neighbors in need.

Since then, we’ve collected 124 tons of fresh produce from donors and growers at the Market, and hope to continue to grow the program…but we need your help.

The Mosaic Company has stepped up in a big way in support of this summer’s donation program at the market: they’re offering $2,500 gifts for every full volunteer slot during 24 weeks this summer (three shifts per Sunday). That means you can help us raise $7,500 in support of our neighbors in need by offering your time!

But that’s not all…

You can help make an even bigger impact by supporting Fellowship of the Fresh with social media activities. The Mosaic Company has also offered a generous $5,000 match for activities completed. It’s as easy as $1, $2, $3!
Tweet it for $1

Just use the hashtag #getfreshforthehungry in your tweet, and Mosaic will donate $1. Tweet now >>

Facebook it for $2

“Like” us on Facebook or “like” or comment on any post. Go to our Facebook page >>

Scan it for $3
Use your smartphone to take a photo of the QR code below now, or at the Minneapolis Farmers Market on Sundays.

Stamp Out Hunger, the National Association of Letter Carriers’ (NALC) annual food drive that locally supports Second Harvest Heartland, is less than one month away!  On Saturday, May 14, over 2,000 letter carriers from throughout the Twin Cities will collect food at thousands of doorsteps for those in need. In 2010, we collected over 1.2 million pounds of food for our hungry neighbors and this year we hope to meet or exceed this number, but can’t do it without your help.

There are three different ways you can get involved:

1. Give Food
Place non-perishable food products in the bag you receive in your mailbox. Your letter carrier will do the rest!

2. Give Time
Volunteer at a local Cub Foods store, helping collect food. Click here to sign up for a shift!

3. Give Financially
Your financial contributions are of tremendous benefit to our neighbors in need. Donate online today.

To learn more about Stamp Out Hunger, click here.

This week is National Volunteer Week, and all of us at Second Harvest Heartland would like to extend our sincere and heartfelt gratitude to all of our volunteers for their dedicated service to Second Harvest Heartland and those we serve.

In 2010, volunteers gave over 45,000 hours of their time. That’s the equivalent to almost 23 full-time employees.  With your support, we’re distributing more food than ever before to our neighbors in need. We couldn’t do it without you!

If you’ve volunteered with Second Harvest Heartland in the past–thank you! If you’d like to learn more about how you can get involved, click here.

Get in Gear, Minnesota’s Annual Rite of Spring, is fast approaching—and now is the time to register to run a 2k, 5k, 10k or half marathon! This year’s event is being held on April 30^th at Minnehaha Park in South Minneapolis.  When registering, consider donating to Second Harvest Heartland; your donation will be matched dollar for dollar up to $10,000 by Get in Gear, which will be used to support child hunger programs. All you need to do is designate your donation on the Get in Gear registration form.

If participating in a race isn’t for you, we still need volunteers! Sign up to help out on Friday, April 29^th with race packet distribution and again on Saturday, April 30 at water stations, the bag check, and other various jobs. To sign up to volunteer, click here.

We hope to see you there!

Thanks to everyone who helped Stamp Out Hunger this weekend! Results are still being calculated, and will be posted soon. In the meantime, check out photos from Senator Al Franken’s appearance at one of the Cub Foods sites!

This week is National Volunteer Week, and all of us at Second Harvest Heartland extend our sincere sincere thanks to all of our fantastic volunteers who have donated time and energy in support of our mission.

Without our volunteers, we simply could not operate as we do. More than 48,000 hours were logged in 2009 by more than 7,000 different individuals. Our volunteers are part of a movement that is helping provide more meals to more of our hungry neighbors each and every day.

As a gesture of thanks, we put together a few fun facts and quotes from Second Harvest Heartland staff about our volunteers and their efforts over the past year. Click here to get the full story!

If you’ve volunteered with Second Harvest Heartland in the past–thank you! If you’d like to learn more about how you can get involved, simply stay tuned to our website for upcoming opportunities.

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.

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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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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.

Teresa Morrow
SVP, Bremer Banks

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.

Peter Anderson
www.biblemoneymatters.com

On Presidents’ Day I had the opportunity to volunteer for the first time for Second Harvest Heartland, and what an opportunity it was! Minneapolis St. Paul Magazine hosted the Best of the Best event to benefit Second Harvest.  The event had everything: glitz, glamor, and amazing food from local restaurants.

I worked the front door as a greeter, directing people to the check in area and the coat check. From my location I was able to help hundreds of people find their way, and to check out their outfits.  Being Minnesota, attire ranged from jeans and tee shirts to full length dresses and suits, but everyone looked beautiful.

The first hour and a half of my shift was crazy busy.  The lobby was completely packed 15 minutes before doors opened and continued that way for 45 minutes.  Even with the logistical oversight of not having a bathroom on the floor, people remained friendly and excited for the evening.

The best part of my night came after the rush.  With a few hours left on my shift, I was given a 30 minute break to enjoy the party.  All of the volunteers were allowed to go upstairs and enjoy the food and drink.  I had some wonderful dishes including oysters on the half shell from Barbette and rack of lamb from Seven, my two favorite foods.

The Best of the Best was a super fun event to volunteer for.  I met some great people, including my fellow volunteers and got to try some great food.  I will definitely be doing this again next year!

- Kassie Church