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

On Inauguration Day, Barack Obama will call for a renewed commitment to national service to take on the challenges our country faces. You can help lead the way by joining your fellow supporters across the country on January 19th, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, for a national day of service.

But don’t wait – you can join the fight to end hunger in your community today by visiting www.10000strong.org. Be part of a movement – be one of 10,000 Minnesotans uniting against hunger in Minnesota.

Visit www.10000strong.org now to learn what you can do to help!

Don’t forget to join the dialogue and tell us what you plan to do on MLK Day and beyond to fight hunger in our community.

Together, we can end hunger. Are you one of 10,000?

A few years ago, one of our volunteers, Michael, decided he wanted to start celebrating his birthdays in a more meaningful way. Instead of getting gifts and cards from his family and friends, he asked them to give him 2-3 hours of volunteer time instead.

For the past three years, Second Harvest Heartland has been chosen as the beneficiary of these volunteer hours. Two years ago, Michael and his group of 10 friends and family members helped pack food boxes. Last year, they helped us write hand written thank you notes to first time donors. And last Sunday, Michael and his group helped us collect food and monetary donations at the Vikings game.

As if his generosity wasn’t inspiring enough, Michael always makes sure to take his family members and friends to dinner after every volunteer event, as a “thank you” for their time and support.

Last year, volunteers of Second Harvest Heartland gave enough of their time to equal that of 25 full-time employees. Volunteers like Michael make a tremendous impact on hundreds of thousands of lives, and we sincerely thank them for their ongoing support.

Over the last month or so, we’ve had some great response to a couple last-minute volunteer opportunities. More than 120 volunteers, staff, truck drivers and others stepped up to help us harvest apples from nearby orchards. With their help, we’ve been able to glean over 61,000 pounds of fresh apples to be distributed to those in need.

We are so inspired by everyone who has volunteered their time and energy, and we wanted to take this opportunity to share some of the feedback we’ve received from volunteers.

“I wanted to let you know that the recent apple picking effort for 2nd Harvest at Apple Jacks was a great idea. I brought my whole family to help out. It was a great cause and we all had a great time picking the apples as well. I think this is a great way to get younger people like my two boys involved. It is a great idea to get some of this fresh produce to people that are going hungry. Otherwise the apples would have gone wasted. I happened to run into the owner of the apple farm, Jack. He was so pleased that we were out there and making good use out of his apple harvest. I believe there has to be other businesses that would also like to donate fresh produce like this to the hungry families in MN. Keep up the great work and let me know when there are other opportunities to help.” – Tom and Nancy Lego

“We had a great time picking apples for Second Harvest today. It was a great idea. How generous of the orchard. We felt it was a terrific family activity. Our kids really enjoyed it even though they were working hard and it was a great learning experience. Our kids are only 7 and 9 years old yet they were able to pick a substantial amount of apples.
I explained to them how we always donate to the food shelf but the value of the apples we picked was so much more than we could ever afford to give monetarily. Thanks for the opportunity.” – Beth Breiter

“Just wanted to say what a great morning we had at Dassel Hillside Farm. It is good to know there are caring people like Carl and his wife to donate apples from their crop to Second Harvest. I will admit that we are a little sore, need to teach the left hand to pick next time!  I can guarantee we are 100% glad we went!” -Ann and Mark Hall

“I didn’t know what to expect when we got there. There were a ton of apples to be picked. We had eight apple trees as kids, but picking apples at Hillside was more fun than I remembered. We talked and laughed and enjoyed the sunshine all while doing something that will help feed others.” – Kathy Michaelson

“My sister Ann and I had a fabulous time picking apples yesterday – and knowing they are going to good use. As farmer’s daughters, we were taught to never waste. Part of our values. Thank you for arranging for us – and others – to participate in service – and to walk my path to peace.” – Julie Rogers Bascom

“I want to thank you for providing the opportunity to further help Second Harvest Heartland. Money is the easy gift. The harder gift is volunteering your time. The time spent that Saturday was extremely fullfilling. And it was fun. I was more than happy to carpool with other volunteers for a very rewarding day.
If you have a need for further volunteers to help out, please contact me via your email list.
Thank you again for the opportunity to help others.” – Richard Sollberger

This is just some of the wonderful feedback we’ve received from volunteers. We want to personally thank everyone who has spent their Saturday mornings and afternoons helping us to achieve this terrific feat. These 61,000 pounds of apples will be provide much-needed healthy, free food to those in need in our community, and we couldn’t do this important work without your support.

Thanks so much!

Dennie – Volunteer Manager
Tim – Volunteer Coordinator
Jerry – Food Resource

(Update 11/11/08 – View pictures here!)