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Greetings,
Don't
you love the abundance of fresh foods available during Minnesota
summers? You can find all of your favorite fruits and
vegetables at farmers' markets, in your backyard garden and at
festivals honoring every type of food from strawberries to
sauerkraut. But sadly, it is during this time of abundance that
children in our community have the greatest risk of going hungry.
One
in three school children in Minnesota receives free or subsidized
meals during the school year. When summer vacation comes, their
families often have a hard time providing the same nutritious meals.
Many families turn to their local food shelf for help. But food
shelves receive fewer donations in the summer, leaving them unable to
provide enough food for all of the families they serve.
Open
Your Heart to the Hungry and Homeless is stepping up to help fill the
summer child hunger gap, and we encourage you to join us. During the
month of July, more than 125 food shelves across the state will
participate in the Open Your Heart Food Shelf
Challenge. We launched this challenge grant with
great success last September, and now we are bringing back the
challenge in July in order to help food shelves raise money and
awareness during the greatest time of need. Keep reading below to
learn more about how you can help feed hungry families in your
neighborhood.
I
hope you enjoy a wonderful summer surrounded by good food and good
company!
Arna
Yetter
Executive
Director
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It saddens me to think that there are children in
America who are hungry every day of their lives. No one can live -
and grow - without such a fundamental necessity as food. If we
Americans reach out to our own communities, we could end this crisis.
-- Tim McGraw, singer
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Take the challenge to feed hungry kids this July
 Open
Your Heart to the Hungry and Homeless is bringing back the $100,000
Food Shelf Challenge this July! We're calling on our neighbors
from Aitkin to Zumbrota to help us fill the gap in child hunger this
summer. The more money a food shelf raises in July, the more
funding they will receive from Open Your Heart. More than 125
food shelves in every corner of the state have signed up to
participate--click to find a
food shelf near you!
More
families rely on food shelves during the summer while their kids are
home from school. But at the same time, most food shelves receive
fewer donations during the summer months, leaving them unable to
provide enough for every family that needs their help. The Open Your
Heart Food Shelf Challenge aims to close this gap in child hunger by
helping food shelves leverage our funding to raise more money and
awareness in their communities.
"Too
many kids in Minnesota have to worry about where their lunch will come
from once school is out," said Executive Director Arna Yetter.
"Open Your Heart is committed to making sure all of our kids get
enough to eat this summer, and we hope people across the state will
join us."
Help
kids in your neighborhood get more of the healthy foods they need
this July by donating to a participating food shelf in the Open Your
Heart Challenge. You can donate online to several food shelves via
our GiveMN page,
and all participating food shelves will accept donations via mail and
in person. The more you give to your food shelf, the greater
their grant from Open Your Heart will be, so give what you can and
help spread the word!
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Roseville
food shelf gives out tons more food with delivery truck from Open
Your Heart
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Sharing Hands and Caring Hearts Food Shelf has grown
exponentially thanks to dozens of dedicated volunteers. With a
grant from Open Your Heart, now they have a delivery truck big
enough to match their generosity!
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Volunteers
at Sharing Hands and Caring Hearts Food Shelf
are loading up
literally tons more food thanks to a $10,000 grant from Open Your
Heart to the Hungry and Homeless.
Open
Your Heart's funds helped the food shelf, housed at Victory
Celebration Church of Roseville, purchase a much needed refrigerated
delivery truck to transport food. In a matter of 14 days after buying
the truck, the food shelf picked up more than 10 tons of food to
distribute to their neighbors in need. Prior to receiving the grant,
Pastor James Henkel said it wouldn't have been possible for them to
obtain such a large quantity of food.
"[The
truck] is absolutely perfect for what we need, and we are so very
grateful to you and all of your faithful donors," James told
Open Your Heart.
Having
the new delivery truck has eliminated the need for volunteers to haul
food donations in their own cars and minivans. Before buying the
truck, volunteers would pack as much food as possible into their
cars, sometimes overloading so much that the wheel wells rubbed on
the tires.
Sharing
Hands and Caring Hearts originally formed in November of 2009 as a
community outreach ministry of Victory Celebration Church and World
Ministries. It has grown substantially to meet the needs of the
community through partnerships with Hope For The City, Second Harvest
Heartland and Keystone Community Services. The food shelf is open
every Wednesday and serves as many as 2,000 individuals and families
each week from Roseville and surrounding communities.
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St. Jude Medical Foundation awards
grant to Open Your Heart
Open Your Heart to the
Hungry and Homeless has received a generous grant of $15,000 from the St. Jude Medical
Foundation. The purpose of the grant is to increase the
capacity of OYH to address the growing need for food and shelter in
Minnesota.
Based in St, Paul, St. Jude Medical is a global company
which develops medical technology and services. St. Jude Medical
Foundation, the philanthropic arm of St. Jude Medical, supports
organizations whose missions are to promote health awareness and
advance the state of medical knowledge through education, research and
training. St. Jude Medical Foundation supports communities where their
employees live and work. Because of the generosity of the St.
Jude Medical Foundation, Open Your Heart is now able to extend our
reach to more fellow Minnesotans who are in need of food and shelter.
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Open Your Heart joins Hunger-Free
Minnesota coalition
One in ten Minnesotans
runs out of resources before the end of every month, missing an average
of 10 meals every 30 days. That's 100 million meals missed every year.
Going hungry leads to a
number of devastating effects including newborns with low birth
weights, adults who develop diabetes and children who can't focus in
school. A University of
Minnesota study estimated that hunger costs Minnesota at least $1.2
billion in direct and indirect health care and education expenses.
A
new, broad-based coalition aims to close this gap in missing meals. Hunger-Free Minnesota
has a strategic, three-year action plan that will provide 100 million
meals annually and sustainably. They will target funding to increase
the food supply in three ways:
- Distributing more food through
the emergency food system
- Enrolling more eligible people
in the Minnesota Food Support program
- Leveraging existing nutrition
programs for children, including free and reduced-price school
meals
Open Your Heart to
the Hungry and Homeless is proud to be a community partner in this
statewide initiative, which is the first of its kind in the country. We
hope you will join us in doing what you can to close the meal gap in
our community. Visit Hunger-Free Minnesota
to learn how you can become a part of the movement to fight hunger in
Minnesota.
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