Itasca Holiday Program Seeks to Fill Empty Plates

Grand Rapids, MN – Second Harvest’s annual Itasca Holiday Program enables the community to reach out to their neighbors during this season of sharing.

In conjunction with hundreds of donors and volunteers, Second Harvest North Central Food Bank will help fill empty plates this holiday season. Second Harvest works all year to provide hunger relief to low income people in the region. During the holidays, families already struggling to put food on the table experience extra pressure to make ends meet. The Itasca Holiday Program has been helping these families for the past 18 years. This comprehensive program eliminates duplication of effort by multiple human service providers and engages the entire community to provide a brighter holiday season for friends and neighbors living with limited resources. 

The special holiday food boxes are the primary focus of the Itasca Holiday Program. The boxes contain enough food for around five meals. Almost 1,800 food boxes, which include a bag of seasonal fruit and a grocery voucher, will be distributed to referred families, seniors and disabled adults at eight locations throughout Itasca County and Hill City during the week of December 17-21. In addition, children ages 1-12 in the households receiving a food box will be given a gift provided by toy donations through the Gingerbread Giving Trees and Toys for Tots in Itasca County. 

The Itasca Holiday Program is in full effect. The program appeal is out, the Gingerbread Giving Trees are up, and referred families are currently signing up for the program by returning their completed form. The gratitude of the families is evident as they drop off their forms or send in messages and even holiday cards thanking Second Harvest for the food and expressing how little they would have for their children if it wasn’t for this program. 

Many people, including children, are missing meals because their resources cannot stretch enough to cover their basic needs. More than 12% of the population in Itasca County lives in poverty and one in five children live in food insecure households. These are the people that our community wants to help, especially during the holidays.

For more information on Second Harvest, and how to help, contact us at 218.326.4420.

Give to the MAX Day 2012

 

What an exciting day! Today is Give to the Max Day 2012. So far, we have had 88 unique donors contribute to Second Harvest North Central Food Bank. We are so thankful for the support we recieve from our generous donors. Each dollar makes a difference in the lives of hungry men, women and children in north central Minnesota. A $10 donation will provide enough food for 50 meals.

We are currently in 3rd place on the Itasca County Leaderboard and would love to get to 2nd or even 1st! Remember, you only have until 11:59pm tonight to make your Give to the Max Day donation.

 

Click here to donate now.

Eagles Auxiliary Harvest Dinner to Benefit the Grand Rapids Food Shelf

Please plan to attend the Annual Harvest Dinner at the Grand Rapids Eagle’s Club to benefit the Grand Rapids Food Shelf on Friday, November 2nd from 5:30pm – 8:00pm. Tickets are available at the door. $9.00 per adult, $5.00 per child 12 - 4, free for children 3 and under.

 

Dinner will feature turkey, dressing, real mashed potatoes, and dessert. Please bring non-perishable food items to donate to the Food Shelf. Proceeds will help support the work of the Grand Rapids Food Shelf and the ever-increasing number of families in our area who need food assistance. 

 

The Eagle’s Auxiliary invites the community to join in their effort to benefit the work of the Grand Rapids Food Shelf whose mission is to assist those who struggle to provide enough food for their families. The Grand Rapids Food Shelf serves over 900 families per month including many children. People come to the Food Shelf because their limited resources cannot pay for all their basic needs. The Food Shelf assists them by providing an opportunity to choose a five day supply of food, including canned goods, frozen items, milk and produce. Support for the Food Shelf is needed now more than ever.

 

The Grand Rapids Food Shelf is a program of Second Harvest North Central Food Bank. For more information call 218.326.4420 or visit www.secondharvestncfb.com.

Introducing Scheduled Donations for Give to the Max Day

giveMN.org Blog - Introducing Scheduled Donations for Give to the Max Day

Posted on 10/16/12 by Dan Moore

Will your board chair be traveling on November 15? Are some of your donors at a team-building retreat that day? Is your staff going to be busy working with donors on Give to the Max Day?
Good news! Your donors can schedule their Give to the Max Day gifts in advance so they won’t miss out!
Starting November 1, donors who visit your organization or project page on GiveMN.org will see the options to Make a Donation or schedule one for Give to the Max Day, as sampled below.

This feature allows you to ask donors to schedule their gift ahead of time to be processed on Give to the Max Day, November 15, just like scheduling household bill payments or other transactions.

When your donors click on the link to schedule one for Give to the Max Day (note: the example above shows a different giving day) they’ll see the same donation page they’re used to seeing on GiveMN.org, but it will say Schedule Your Give to the Max Day Donation and the green Total Donation box will verify that the gift “will be charged to your card on Nov. 15, 2012.”

After entering the credit card or debit card information and confirming the donation, a donor will see a confirmation screen and will be sent a confirmation email. (See below).

The donor will also have the ability to "stop the donation" prior to the November 15 under their GiveMN account "donations" tab. (See example below)

The Scheduled Giving function will be available on all GiveMN.org organization, project, fundraiser, and team pages beginning Thursday, November 1. This function is not available on donation widgets embedded on your own website, another site, or your organization’s Facebook page.
Scheduled donations are deducted from donors’ credit or debit card at 12 a.m. on November 15 and will be eligible for the 12 a.m. to 1 a.m. Golden Ticket, as well as helping their nonprofit advance on the leaderboard. Nonprofit and school page administrators will not receive notification that a gift has been scheduled; they will receive notification when the gift is processed on November 15.
Mark your calendars for November 1 and let your donors know they can schedule their gifts to count toward your organization’s Give to the Max Day leaderboard totals, even if they don’t have time to do so on November 15!
Note that the "pledge" feature of GiveMN's mobile website is NOT the same as a scheduled donation and that scheduled donations cannot be made using GiveMN's mobile version of the website.

Give a little, feed a lot

 

 

With an estimated 1 in 10 Minnesotans continuing to suffer from food insecurity, the ability of Minnesota’s food banks and local food shelves to serve those in need has never been more important. To help address this critical need within the state, Cub Foods, KSTP-TV, MOM Brands, Dr Pepper, Snapple Group and Dean Foods are partnering to sponsor the Hunger Action Month food drive under the banner “Give a Little, Feed a Lot” during September at all Cub Foods stores in Minnesota.

All proceeds will benefit Minnesota’s Feeding America Food Banks, including Second Harvest North Central Food Bank, Channel One Food Bank, Second Harvest Northern Lakes Food Bank and Second Harvest Heartland, as well as dozens of local food shelves.

Cub Foods customers and Minnesota residents can support the cause in two easy ways: by purchasing any dry packaged food or a “Community Cupboard Bag” that is already filled with a complete meal and placing it in the specially marked donation bin in the store. Another simple way for customers to donate is rounding up their grocery bill to the nearest dollar at the checkout register and donating the change. All food bin donations will benefit local food shelves and customer cash donations will go to their food bank.

“Far too many of our fellow Minnesotans struggle with putting food on the table each day,” said Cub Foods President Brian Audette. “Cub Foods is extremely thankful for our partnerships with these great organizations and we look forward to working with them as we fight to end hunger in our local communities.”

Helping Fight Hunger One Bowl at a Time
MOM Brands is also offering breakfast lovers a unique opportunity to stock up on their favorite cereal while making a donation during Hunger Action Month. Throughout September, customers can look for special 2 for $5 pricing on select Malt-O-Meal® cereals and 4 for $5 on Better Oats® brand instant oatmeal. For every Malt-O-Meal brand cereal or Better Oats brand instant oatmeal purchased during Hunger Action Month, the Malt-O-Meal Company will make a food donation, with a goal to donate one million breakfast servings to families in Minnesota.

 

For more information visit: http://hungeractionmn.com/