Second Harvest Calls On Elected Officials to Visit Food Bank

Urges Senators and Congressmen to Learn about Hunger In the Communities They Serve

Second Harvest, a member of Feeding America, the nation’s leading domestic hunger-relief charity, is inviting all elected officials in north central Minnesota to visit the food bank. On September 9, Second Harvest will be holding its first ever, Public Service Hunger Action Day, during Hunger Action Month.

“The decisions made in Washington and St. Paul are about real people and real families, not just numbers on a balance sheet.” Susan Estee said, Executive Director of Second Harvest. “We are working hard to keep up with increased need in our community, but the need doesn’t seem to let up. Elected Officials need to know what we’re up against as they make decisions about hunger-relief programs.”

Second Harvest Food Bank serves a seven county region, where child food insecurity is at 19.4 %. This means that one out of five children does not have reliable access to a sufficient quantity of affordable, nutritious food. Nationwide, food insecurity is a problem, but it is also right here in north central Minnesota.

“We want to make sure our elected officials understand the extent of hunger in their communities and how their decisions affect so many people who are struggling to make ends meet.” Estee said. “We see firsthand the importance of nutrition assistance programs to our community as we serve clients in need.”

Invited to this event are; Governor Dayton, Senator Klobuchar, Senator Franken, State Representatives, County Commissioners, Mayors, and City Council members from the north central region. Second Harvest plans to engage attendees with a hunger related activity and further educate them on the impact of hunger in our region.

Throughout the north central region, Second Harvest has over 130 food shelves, soup kitchens, homeless shelters, and other hunger relief partners that provide several direct service programs for hungry children and the elderly. Second Harvest seeks to show Elected Officials what is being done to combat hunger locally and discuss how they can collectively work to ensure that hungry Minnesotans continue to have access to emergency food.