Second Harvest Heartland - Newsletter - Fall 2012

1. Stories Hope
Fall 2012
of
HARVEST
to
HOME
Building connections, from field to table • PG 4 ®
I n si d e
• Food & Fund punches hunger
• A
season of thanks
• Reaching out with SNAP
• The unsung volunteers pg 3 pg 6 pg 7

2. The Mission Beyond
the Mission Punching out hunger
A message from our Executive Director
CEO
the Food Fund way
Season’s Bounty is Meant To Be Shared If eating pizza to fight hunger sounds
too good to be true, visit a Punch Pizza
their own food donations and donate their
day’s tips to Second Harvest Heartland. The
At this time of year our thoughts naturally harvest 4.3 million pounds of surplus, Harvest West in Golden Valley. Throughout during their annual food drive and try it for food drive is also important to managers
turn to the bounty of the season—harvesting farm-fresh produce, getting it quickly to September, volunteers donated nearly yourself. Each November, Punch Pizza offers because they know the importance of
fields and gardens, celebrating the change food shelves and into the hands of hungry 5,000 hours of time at our convenient new a free pizza with a cash or food donation in fighting hunger in our community. They
in weather, and sharing a special meal clients. We adapted our resources, working warehouse facility. support of Second Harvest Heartland. Last work hard to provide extra staff for the day
with family and friends at Thanksgiving. closely with partner food shelves to move As you settle around a holiday table with year, customers brought in more than 8,300 of the drive, keep up with the long lines,
Yet the plenty that so many of us enjoy is this extraordinary amount of nutritious your loved ones this season, know that your pounds of food items and raised $4,000 and of course, keep making great pizza. At
not guaranteed for nearly one in 10 of our fresh produce—triggering what one agency contributions of dollars, time and talent to through an online coupon offer—enough for the end of the night, the managers tally
neighbors, who are at risk for regularly partner described as “the best thing that’s Second Harvest Heartland are translating us to deliver more than 21,000 meals to our the total number of pizzas given away and
missing meals. In this issue, you’ll learn ever happened to our food shelf.” directly to meals for kids, families and hungry neighbors! count the barrels of food. Every store wants
more about how Second Harvest Heartland We also continue to be stewards of seniors. Your generosity plays a crucial
Punch Pizza’s annual Food Fund Drive has to give away the most pizza and collect the
helps our community share its bounty with incredible bounty from our corporate role in our mission to end hunger through
those who need extra support to make it seen increased customer support every year most food donated, because the winners’
and community volunteers and donors, community partnerships.
through tough times. since it began in 2009. “As a restaurant, we bragging rights last until the next year.
as evidenced by the attendance and -Rob Zeaske
Take our innovative work with several enthusiasm at our October 4 open house, feel a special obligation to help fight hunger Punch Pizza continues to partner with
Minnesota farmers and processors to which officially opened Second Heartland in the Twin Cities,” said Jenny Nyquist of Last year, Punch customers raised $4,000 and Second Harvest Heartland because they
Punch Pizza. “We have such a dedicated 8,300 pounds of food. believe in the fight against hunger. At the
and generous customer base at Punch, and end of the day, seeing the food donation
Together we are they look forward to this promotion each barrels filled to the top makes all the hard
year. We are amazed at how many tons of Although the restaurant staff has to work work worth it.
transforming hunger relief. food are collected in just one day and it harder on the day of the drive than any
You can help. Mark your calendar with these events.
Go to 2harvest.org/events for more details.
makes giving away thousands of pizzas
totally worth it.”
other day in the year, they enjoy working
hard for a great cause. Staff even bring in
To learn how you can hold a Food Fund
Drive, visit 2harvest.org/foodandfund.
THANK YOU!
Taste of the Vikings Vintner Ball
November 19 • Nickelodeon Universe, Mall of America March 2, 2013 • Westin Edina Galleria
Rub elbows with current and former Vikings players while sampling Don’t miss the next Vintner Ball, a world-class, charitable wine tasting
food from the Twin Cities’ finest restaurants. event. One hundred percent of funds raised benefit Second Harvest
Heartland. Enjoy an evening of some of the finest wines from around
For more details, visit vikings.com/tasteofthevikings.
world, gourmet hors d’oeuvres, a silent auction and wine seminars!
A huge Second Harvest heartland ‘Thank you!’
for making SEPTEMBER HUGELY successful!
Walk to End Hunger For more information, visit vintnerball.com.
Hunger Action Month – Give a Little Feed a lot
November 22, 7-10am • Mall of America
Thank you to all who volunteered, donated food or made a financial contribution during Hunger Action Month! You
The Walk to End Hunger is a 5K, family-friendly fun walk presented Dish: Cuisine for Change
may have also participated in the Give a Little, Feed a Lot campaign with a donation of food, doubled your dollar with
by the Twin Cities Hunger Initiative on Thanksgiving morning May 30, 2013 • Saint Paul RiverCentre
a matched online donation or rounded up your grocery total at Cub Foods. If so, you helped raise enough for nearly 1.7
inside the Mall of America. Join Team Second Harvest Heartland or Second Harvest Heartland’s premier fundraising gala, Dish is an million meals! Give a Little, Feed a Lot was made possible by Cub Foods, Dr. Pepper Snapple Group, MOM Brands, Dean
contribute to the event in a number of other ways. elegant evening of fine food prepared by the best chefs in and around Foods and KSTP. Thank you so much.
For more details, visit 2harvest.org/walk. the Twin Cities, auction items, wine tasting and entertainment to help
our hungry neighbors. Each year, the event raises nearly $500,000 in
Double Down Sponsors
support of our work towards a hunger-free community. 2013 marks the This September, 1,827 volunteers responded with 4,715 hours of service at Second Harvest Heartland West, more than
Let’s Kick Hunger Day Radiothon
10-year anniversary of Dish—you won’t want to miss it! doubling the amount of time contributed in September of 2011. Every volunteer hour completed at Second Harvest
January 31, 2013 • Mall of America
Find out how you can get involved at dishcuisineforchange.org. Heartland West during this time was matched with a financial contribution by our generous Double Down Sponsors:
WCCO Radio and Taste of the NFL present the fourth-annual Let’s
Cargill, Ecolab, General Mills, Kemps, Optum and UnitedHealthcare! Thank you!
Kick Hunger Day Radiothon to benefit Second Harvest Heartland. Join
sponsors General Mills and Land O’ Lakes to feed our neighbors in need.
Pack-a-Thon Sponsors
For more information, visit letskickhungerday.org.
Our first-ever Pack-a-Thon was a huge success, and it wouldn’t have been possible without the 265 volunteers who logged
more than 550 hours packing enough food to provide more than 167,000 meals! We’d like to thank our presenting sponsor,
The Mosaic Company, who matched all donations during the event for a total of $33,000!
2 Fall 2012

3. Without action,
a bounty can turn into overabundance
When we got the call that Seneca Foods had 600,000 pounds of
corn available if we had the capacity to collect it, we responded
HARVEST
immediately. Trucks that would normally have moved the corn
in Renville County to a Seneca plant instead moved it to Cargill's
grain storage facility in Savage. Cargill employees packed 12
truckloads of corn into totes, and SUPERVALU supported the effort
and put together throughout the country could do what they
HOME
with refrigeration and transportation.
did, and get (the produce) out to people.” This year, Gary
But like any fresh food, corn is perishable. We knew Minnesota’s planted crops specifically planned for donation, amounting
to
emergency food system couldn’t quickly enough absorb more to more than 230,000 pounds of corn, cabbage, green beans,
than 100,000 pounds of it—so the Second Harvest Heartland Food cucumbers and peppers.
Sourcing Team sprung into action, making connections with other
food banks in the Feeding America network to share in the bounty. Partnerships will shape the future
Within days, truckloads of corn were on their way to 18 food banks Not one of the successes experienced this year could have been
in 10 states—from the Greater Food Depository in Chicago, Illinois accomplished without the dedication and commitment of caring
Bringing a Bounty of Farm-Fresh Food to Families to the North Texas Food Bank in Dallas, Texas. partners on the front lines of hunger relief. From the major
processor to the local community garden, the contributions of each
Local growers dedicate crops to the cause and every partner make a tremendous difference in the lives of
In past issues, we’ve told you about the While the vast majority of the pounds contributed to this people experiencing hunger.
more than 200 million pounds of heartland- program has and will come through partnerships with large-
scale processors like Seneca, donations from smaller, local As the autumn fades into winter here in the heartland, we look
fresh produce that goes un-harvested or unsold growers make a huge difference. Take Gary Pahl, owner of Pahl’s forward to an off-season full of brainstorming, connecting and
in Minnesota alone... Market in Apple Valley, as an example. Last year, Gary learned planning for future years when we can capture even more of the 200
of the program and told us, “I never would have figured in my million pounds of abundance waiting to be picked and placed in
...a staggering number, difficult even to understand when you consider
whole entire life that this network that they have established front of a hungry child, senior or working parent to enjoy.
that amount would fill 5,000 semis. But what we can easily understand is
that the corn, potatoes, watermelon, peppers, peas and other produce that
go to waste on Minnesota farms each year would be of great value to so
many families at risk of going without a meal today—if only we could find
a way to make the connection.
That’s where Harvest to Home, the local agricultural surplus program
anchored by Second Harvest Heartland, comes in. At a time when food
manufacturers are increasing efficiencies, resulting in less surplus
product, and demand on food shelves is high, it’s more important than
ever that hunger-relief organizations continue to forge new partnerships
to connect the abundance of the heartland with the dinner tables of those When we got the call about
600,000 pounds of surplus corn,
we serve.
we responded immediately and
Last year through Harvest to Home, we collected more than 2.3 million helped distribute more than
half a million pounds to 18 food
pounds of sweet corn, potatoes, watermelon and green peppers from over
banks in 10 states.
40 different farms. This season, we collected more than 4.3 million pounds
of sweet corn, potatoes, apples, cabbage, carrots, cucumbers, watermelon,
green beans, peppers, squash, tomatoes and zucchini that has already been
sent out through our network of food shelf and other agency partners for Special thanks to
distribution to families in need. This year, more than 60 different farms and Hunger-Free Minnesota for the
processors across our state participated with donations. funding and coordination
that helped make this
distribution possible!
60+ FARMS 4.3 MILLION LBS 80+ TRUCKS 3,360,000 MEALS 37,300 FAMILIES 1 MONTH OF FOOD
4 Fall 2012 Fall 2012 5

4. Voices of Hunger
The front lines of hunger relief
The volunteers behind
Beyond
Above
the volunteers
When you think of Second Harvest Heartland
volunteers, you likely picture people in a warehouse
Camille Cyprian: SNAP Outreach Manager to provide support for my team I need to know the policies and
packing boxes and sorting food. In many cases, this is
regulations. I need to be able to answer the questions they might
an accurate image of our ‘traditional’ volunteers, who
For many individuals struggling to put food on the table, SNAP (the have, and they need to know this information to continue to grow.”
are crucial in our fight against hunger. But there are Elise Saggau is one of many less-heralded volunteers.
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program; formerly known as Food
Camille goes on to explain, “It’s important to be ‘in the know’ about other volunteers who are just as crucial but not quite
Stamps) can be just the help they need to make ends meet. So why are
policy—this helps us to be a leader in our field because policy trickles as visible. Second Harvest Heartland volunteers also
only 65 percent of Minnesotans who are eligible for SNAP currently down into the work that we do. It is important to be up on what’s new in because they believe in our mission of fighting
answer phones, help with data entry and assist with
utilizing the program? Often, the complex application process order to provide the best customer service and make the [application] hunger and helping those in need in our
other administrative work. They help keep our day-
prevents applicants from accessing this much-needed resource. process as seamless as possible.” community. “I feel I’m part of a large and very
This is where the Second Harvest Heartland SNAP Outreach team
This approach has successfully allowed Camille’s team of SNAP
an extra effort for our efficient operation that is dedicated to feeding the
becomes so crucial.
Outreach specialists to then focus their efforts on developing hungry neighbors hungry, and that is very important to my personal
value system,” said Elise. “From the beginning of
Camille Cyprian, SNAP Outreach manager at Second Harvest strong relationships with people seeking help. The support Camille
to-day operations humming! Elise Saggau and Jerri my work with Second Harvest, I have been made to
Heartland, diligently works with her team of SNAP Outreach provides to her team is instrumental to their success, as SNAP
Freier, two of our dedicated data entry specialists, feel very welcome and appreciated. While entering
specialists to streamline the SNAP application process as much as specialists work hard to make connections with their clients. “When
are part of a legion of behind-the-scenes volunteers data can be very tedious, I am actually seeing the
possible. Camille is quick to credit her team for the success they county workers cannot get ahold of SNAP clients, they call us,
whose inconspicuous work is absolutely vital to the wide reach of Second Harvest Heartland as I review
have seen. Over the past year alone, the number of SNAP applicants because they know we can get [in contact with] them,” says Camille.
daily operations at Second Harvest Heartland. the generosity of so many persons of many ages,
the team has assisted has doubled from years previous. But credit “We have built that relationship and rapport with the clients.”
cultures and walks of life who volunteer their time
for this success also lies in the support, knowledge and resources In 2011, nearly 12,000 volunteers collectively
With more than one in 10 of our neighbors at risk of missing a meal and talent for the sake of this mission.”
Camille provides to her staff along the way. contributed time equivalent to 29 full-time employees.
tonight, programs like SNAP Outreach are more important than
With that many volunteers, Elise and Jerri’s work More than anything, Elise and Jerri realize the impact
Since joining Second Harvest Heartland in 2011, Camille has ever. Programs like SNAP Outreach work to break down barriers entering volunteer hours into the system and they have on Second Harvest Heartland’s ability to
immersed herself in SNAP regulations and policy changes. “I love to SNAP participation and connect more people with more food in managing the volunteer database is vital to making operate in the most efficient way possible. “I know
information. I love to read. I love to know things,” she says. “In order their time of need. our volunteer program run so smoothly. that what I do is essential to the organization. Doing
“Second Harvest Heartland is trying to get food to it as a volunteer is the equivalent of a significant
those who need it and volunteers help make that financial contribution which I am not able to make
possible,” said Jerri. “So, my little task of entering from my personal resources,” said Elise.
and confirming data just helps make sure those We are fortunate that volunteers like Elise and
volunteers are able to volunteer, are recognized for Jerri are willing to do the unrecognized and often
Your Support is Needed volunteering and, hopefully, return to volunteer unglamorous jobs for the sake of our commitment
more so Second Harvest Heartland can help get food
Now, More Than Ever An Elegant Taste of Hunger Relief to those who need it.”
to the community. They, along with our wide
network of volunteers, partners and donors, are the
If you’re like most families in the heartland, you’ll sit down this The Taste of the Vikings, one of our
Like a lot of our volunteers, Elise and Jerri heart of Second Harvest Heartland, and we couldn’t
month and enjoy a Thanksgiving feast surrounded by loved ones. premier fundraising events, is right
contribute time to Second Harvest Heartland be more thankful.
But the unfortunate reality is that thousands of Minnesota families around the corner! Don’t miss your
will rely on their local food shelf for a simple holiday meal. With chance to personally meet players
your help, we can make the holidays a little brighter for families from the current Vikings team
in need. Please share what you can to help us keep our neighbors while sampling food from the Twin GIVE TO THE MAX AND DOUBLE YOUR GIFT!
hunger-free this holiday season. Just a $10 contribution will allow Cities’ finest restaurants on Monday,
One in 10 of your neighbors is at risk of missing a meal on any given day. But you can
us to provide a meal-a-day for more than a month for a working November 19, at Nickelodeon Universe help make a direct impact on the lives of those in need on Thursday, November 15, when
parent, child or senior in need. in Mall of America.
One in six Minnesota children lives at risk of hunger, and this party with
15 Second Harvest Heartland participates in the fourth-annual Give to the Max Day. This
one-day, statewide online fundraising event allows us to provide the meals our hungry
neighbors need in the most efficient way possible. The Mosaic Company and a group of
®
a purpose has been making a huge impact on hunger relief for over 20 generous individual donors are again offering more than $100,000 in combined matching
years. All proceeds help benefit the Vikings Children’s Fund Summer funds—so your donation will go twice as far!
Lunch Program through Second Harvest Heartland. Grab your tickets The generosity of thousands of donors on this day has helped Second Harvest Heartland continue our mission
today and help kick childhood hunger! of fighting hunger for three years in a row. Last year, we were able to raise more than $390,000, which is enough
to provide over 1,443,000 meals to those in need! Give to the Max Day is an incredible 24-hour display of the
Visit vikings.com/tasteofthevikings to get your tickets now. benevolence of our state, and we hope you’ll join in the caring.
Find out more about Give to the Max Day at givemn.org, or log on to
To donate, use the handy attached envelope
or visit us online at 2harvest.org. 2harvest.org/reminder to sign up to receive a reminder about Give to the Max Day. Fall 2012 7

5. Nonprofit
Organization
US Postage Paid
Second Harvest
1140 Gervais Ave., St. Paul, MN 55109-2020 Heartland
Cause and Effects SEPTEMBERS TO REMEMBER
You supported the cause. When the school year begins and children face new routines
Here is the change you’ve effected. and challenges, proper nutrition is more important than ever.
Here is a snapshot of how Meals for Minds has grown during
that crucial first month of school.
A growing program for growing minds
Thank you for helping Second Harvest Heartland
support Meals for Minds. Without proper nutrition, 6
kids find it harder to concentrate and perform in 53,665 Meals
1,829 Served
school. The Meals for Minds program, supported
by Target, is designed to bring food to students and
5
families in need by regularly setting up temporary
(10,000 meals)
food shelves at schools where the need is great. Your
volunteer efforts have helped this program grow
throughout the Twin Cities. 4
33,080 Meals
1,248 Served
3
2
Contact Info 14,735 Meals
455 Served
Second Harvest Heartland
Phone: 651.484.5117 1
Toll Free: 888.339.3663
4 SCHOOLS
6 SCHOOLS
2 SCHOOLS
Fax: 651.484.1064
2harvest.org
0
®
Sept. Sept. Sept.
2010 2011 2012