The National Association of Letter Carriers is at it again, collecting food and monetary donations nationwide to feed our hungry neighbors. With the weakened economy and the increased demand for emergency food, there’s an urgent need to help feed those children, working families and seniors in our communities who are struggling to put food on the table.

This year’s goal for Stamp Out Hunger: Minneapolis/St. Paul is just over 1 million pounds of food – collected in one day! But to accomplish this incredible feat, we need your help.

It’s easy to participate!

1. This week,  look for a blue plastic bag in your mailbox. Fill it with non perishable food items (no homemade items or glass containers, please) and set it by your mailbox on Saturday, May 9th. Your letter carrier will do the rest.
2. Donate online, or stop into your nearest TCF Branch to make a cash donation. For each $5 donated, Second Harvest Heartland can distribute $45 worth of food and grocery products to our hungry neighbors.
3. Sign up to volunteer at one of 28 Cub Foods locations on May 9!

More and more people in our community need our help. Will you join us in this effort to Stamp Out Hunger in the Twin Cities?

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