Neighbors in need

Doing more for our hungry neighbors

For more than 30 years, Second Harvest Heartland and our partners have been fighting hunger in Minnesota and western Wisconsin by making food accessible to those who need it most.

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The faces of hunger

Whether it’s the mother who goes to bed without eating to provide a meal for her kids, veterans reintegrating into society, senior citizens trying to keep up with rising expenses and fixed incomes or students trying to focus on school, no one is immune to hunger and every story is unique.

Hear some of the real stories of Minnesotans you helped last year.

Brenda

On any day of the week, Brenda’s household is bustling with activity. There are people coming and going from work, school and Boy Scouts, all at different times of day. This might sound familiar to a young family, but Brenda’s situation is a little different. Brenda is 77 years old. She and her husband are the primary caretakers for their grandsons, alongside their son who works a night shift six days a week.

With more mouths to feed, Brenda did what any mother and grandmother would do, after only five years of retirement, she went back to work. Even with a little extra income, it is still difficult to afford the good food that she needs for her family.

"We’d be eating less and cheaper stuff if I didn’t have the food shelf, it’s been a blessing."

– Brenda

Yolawnda

Yolawnda was driven to be a good provider for her family. As a single mother, she joined the military and became a diesel mechanic. The military helped put her and her family on a path to stability. Once a homeless mother, Yolawnda now owns a home but was still struggling to make ends meet financially. “There are times I will go without eating to ensure my kids have enough to eat,” Yolawnda said. "That's what a mom does."

"To me food is love, and honestly without programs that bring fresh fruits and vegetables, I don’t think my kids would be getting half the nutrition they should be."

– Yolawnda

Ricky

It’s a bright sunny day, Ricky is spending his afternoon arranging fresh strawberries as he and other volunteers prepare to distribute fresh fruits and vegetables to some of his neighbors in North Minneapolis.

Like most of our volunteers, Ricky enjoys giving back to his community, but these distributions are important to him for another reason. Ricky deals with hunger himself, an experience he brings to every volunteer shift. He knows the challenge of affording consistent and healthy meals when his finances are strained. As a diabetic, healthy food resources have become more and more important for him to help effectively manage his disease.

“Peppers and [other produce] are too expensive,” he said. "And we really need it. Food prices are sky-high around here.”

There is enough food to go around. Produce distributions and food shelves assist Ricky in managing his disease. Pausing while telling us his story, Ricky said sincerely, “It really helps me.”

Jennifer

When 38-year-old Jennifer was diagnosed with cancer, she became unable to work. She and her boyfriend found themselves struggling to make ends meet, unexpectedly going from two sources of income to one.

“The whole plan we had was gone in the snap of a finger. It was a wake-up call to life in general, to realize how quickly something so good can go so quickly.”

When Jennifer reached out to us, she was looking for resources for finding food shelves near her home. “It’s a struggle to keep food in my house. "What am I supposed to do?” Jennifer said. “I can’t afford to go to the grocery stores for the food I want or need. Food shelves have been helpful. I’m grateful for the food shelves.”

Food shelves and other meal programs are designed to support people like Jennifer with food help so there’s one less thing to worry about when life gets complicated. The day we talked to Jennifer, she had just accepted a new job and she said her life feels like it’s starting to move forward again.

Impact by the numbers

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A message from our CEO

Achieving a 253 percent increase in profits, test scores or farm yields is incredibly rare and remarkable. Bankers, teachers and farmers would be overjoyed with these results.

That’s why I’m thrilled to report the following: As a supporter of hunger relief, over the past 10 years you achieved a 253 percent increase in meals provided to your hungry neighbors.

That’s right, just 10 years ago, we proudly reported that Second Harvest Heartland was able to provide for more than 32 million meals in one year. Today, that number is 81 million—a 253 percent increase. While many of our community members still don’t know where they will find all the food they need this month, together we have made gigantic leaps in solving hunger in our region.

In addition to more meals provided, this 10 years of growth is evidenced in many other ways. You’ve helped us build upon our strengths in sourcing and distributing food donations to become a robust and multi-faceted hunger relief organization. Today, you’ll find Second Harvest Heartland in healthcare clinics, delivering food to patients that will improve their health. You’ll also find us in schools, helping kids and parents connect to food and nutrition programs to help ensure their academic success.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, this unprecedented organizational growth has led to a need for more physical space. This year we purchased facilities for a new distribution center in Brooklyn Park. Our current, 30-year-old facility can no longer meet the needs of our community, and we’re excited to have the space required to accept and process more fresh food donations, offer additional services to food insecure people, and engage greater numbers of volunteers in reducing hunger.

More than ever before, Second Harvest Heartland will be positioned to meet the needs of the 1,000 food shelves and meal programs that rely on us for food and support of local hunger relief.

As I reflect on this growth and transformation, I’m humbled and inspired by the many volunteers, donors, community partners and staff members who have dedicated themselves to eliminating hunger in new and creative ways. Second Harvest Heartland will need your continued dedication in the coming months.

Potential changes and funding cuts to safety net programs that support working families, children and seniors in Minnesota have great potential to cause additional—and even overwhelming—demands on our region’s network of food banks and food shelves. Over the next several months I invite you to advocate for programs and policies that offer support to the people we serve, so that we can maintain our progress in ensuring all our fellow Minnesotans are properly nourished.

As you know, if even one of our neighbors is in need of a meal, we are called to action. The stories and results we’re sharing with you in this Community Report reflect the impact of your support over the past year. Thank you for taking action against hunger in 2017. As you read these inspiring stories, please celebrate our collective accomplishments and consider how you might like to next be involved in creating a community in which everyone has the food he or she needs to live a happy and healthy life.

Sincerely,

Rob Zeaske,
Chief Executive Officer

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