Kitchen Coalition Celebrates 7 Million Meals

We’re celebrating a huge milestone. In just a little over five years, Kitchen Coalition—Second Harvest Heartland’s prepared meals program—has distributed more than 7 million meals to the community.

“Not everyone is able to use the groceries that Second Harvest Heartland is so great at sourcing and getting out into the community,” said Kitchen Coalition Director Sarah Peterson. “People have barriers to cooking, such as not having the home, health, or ability to prepare groceries, so Kitchen Coalition exists to serve up fresh, culturally connected, quality meals.” 

Kitchen Coalition works in partnership with more than 20 restaurants and commercial kitchens and more than 100 community organizations to create and distribute the meals, making this important work possible. One such distribution partner is Neighbors, Inc., a nonprofit organization providing food, clothing, career training, and financial education in St. Paul.

“We always say at Neighbors that the magic is in the partnerships,” said Neighbors, Inc. Executive Director Dawn Wambeke. “Today is a perfect example of our collective impact with 7 million nutritious, delicious, culturally connected meals being brought to the community we are honored to serve.”

To support the important, ongoing work of getting prepared meals to the community, the Affinity Plus Foundation, in partnership with the Federal Home Loan Bank of Des Moines, has awarded a $45,000 grant to Kitchen Coalition. This grant will help neighbors experiencing food insecurity across Minnesota.

“Everyone deserves to know where their next meal is coming from,” said Jacquie Twedt, Board Chair of the Affinity Plus Foundation. “We’re proud to continue our partnership with Kitchen Coalition to help advance their work to not only get fresh meals to those in need, but to ensure those meals are familiar and nourishing.”