Help End Hunger with a Trip to Your Local Grocery Store

Through the power of partnership, The Minnesota Grocers Association (MGA) is making real progress in the fight to end hunger in Minnesota. In partnership with Second Harvest Heartland, the MGA has created a statewide campaign called “Minnesota Own,” a unique statewide partnership among grocers, industry vendors, consumers and local hunger-relief agencies to educate people about how hunger affects the state’s residents.

All food and monetary donations collected in-store will be distributed to local food banks and food shelves to benefit hungry Minnesota families. The MGA coordinates the program across the state and has more than 230 retail participants and 14 vendor partners. Last year, the “Minnesota’s Own” campaign provided 6.2 million meals to hungry families in Minnesota and has set a goal to reach 6.5 million meals this year.

“Our grocers and vendor partners share consumers’ concerns for providing food and necessities to local families in need,” said Jamie Pfuhl, President of the Minnesota Grocers Association. “The participating retailers and vendors are proud to bring ‘Minnesota’s Own’ to our communities, to help increase donations to their local food shelves, and to benefit area families during difficult economic times.”

You can support in “Minnesota’s Own” by:

• Participating in or hosting a Food & Fund Drive—Buy items in your local grocery store and donate them to local food shelves;


• Contributing to in-store promotion—Purchase specially marked items and vendor partners will donate an additional monetary amount to local food shelves; and


• Finding the “Check Off Hunger” Icons—For as little as $1, $3 or $5, customers may contribute to food shelves at the register and sign a grocery list icon that will be displayed prominently in the store.

For a list of participating grocers, special vendor coupons and more information on how to get involved, visit minnesotasown.com.

We hope you’ll join us this October to help end hunger in Minnesota!