Itasca Farm Service Helps Feed the Need and the birds too

Starting today, Itasca Farm Service will help Second Harvest Feed the Need this holiday season. From November 16 through 21^st, when customers purchase a 50 pound bag of Black Oil Sunflower Seeds at a special price, Itasca Farm Service will donate $2.00 to the Itasca Holiday Program.

Join Itasca Farm Service in Feeding the Need and help provide holiday food boxes to Itasca area families in need. The community will benefit and your birds will thank you.

Itasca County Farm Service • 900 NW 4^th Street • Grand Rapids, MN (218) 326-4102

Feed the Need Today

Today Second Harvest Food Bank launches our 15^th annual Itasca Holiday Program. The theme this year is “Feed the Need” and the message couldn’t be more appropriate thanks to the dire state of the economy in northern Minnesota.

Second Harvest’s Itasca Holiday Program provides food boxes and new toys to Itasca County families in need during the holidays. 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 need is great this year. There is no sign of the recession lifting in the communities we serve. In addition to large numbers of the poor and working poor, many newly unemployed people are exhausting their resources and coming to Second Harvest and our partner agencies for help.

Holidays are an especially stressful time. Add the cost of winter home heating expense and people living on the edge are thrown into crisis. Thanks to a caring community, we are able to “Feed the Need” during the holidays and throughout the year.

For more information on four ways to help “Feed the Need” check out our website: www.secondharvestncfb.com.

Hard Times for Struggling Families

Food shelf use in our region continues to increase as the recession continues (despite reports otherwise) and unemployment stays high. Compared to the first three quarters of 2008, household visits to food shelves are up 13%. People who were able to get by on their own before, are now finding they need help meeting basic needs. As we enter the winter home heating season, we expect even more people will have to turn to food shelves to put food on the table and keep the house warm.

One in eight Americans struggles with hunger. In Minnesota, 11% of our children live in poverty and 33% of children receive free or reduced lunch, according to the Minnesota Kids Count Data Book 2009. Children are especially vulnerable and suffer long term consequences from hunger and poverty. The current economic crisis will negatively affect the health and education of many of our children for years to come.

Garden Program Allows Kids to Get Hands Dirty With Gardening

Garden Program Allows Kids to Get Hands Dirty With Gardening

Hunger Action Month was Action Packed!

The final events of Hunger Action Month were Bloomer’s Garden Center Scare Away Hunger Scarecrow Making at the garden center on September 25^th and 26^th and the Grand Rapids Itasca Area CROP Walk on Sunday, October 4^th. Many local people came together to fight hunger at these annual events.

Bloomer’s 5^th Annual Scare Away Hunger included students from Southwest and St. Joseph’s Elementary Schools. Families and individuals were invited to assemble scarecrows for their home or business for a donation of either $20 or the equivalent in food. Thanks to the efforts of the great people at Bloomer’s and the event sponsors, over $860 and almost 100 pounds of food was raised to support hunger relief in Grand Rapids.

Walkers in the Grand Rapids CROP Walk on October 4^th had several options of routes from about one mile to six miles. Most of the approximately 50 walkers took the long route and ended up wet from rain. The area churches and individuals who participated raised over $5,000 for hunger relief locally, nationally and internationally.