Greenway High School Day of Caring

Today, 20 students and 2 adults worked at Second Harvest in conjunction with the annual Greenway Day of Caring.  The students packed Kids Packs Backpack bags, labeled hundreds of cans of corn and repackaged many bags of macaroni.  Thanks so much to the Greenway High School students for caring about their community and helping end hunger! 

Grand Rapids Letter Carriers Participated in Stamp Out Hunger on Saturday

Thanks to the National Association of Letter Carriers and the Grand Rapids Post Office, more than 5,500 pounds of food was collected on Saturday, May 8th.   The food will go directly to the Grand Rapids Food Shelf and help local people who come for food assistance. 

Stamp Out Hunger Saturday, May 8th

The National Association of Letter Carriers will be collecting nonperishable food items on Saturday, May 8^th along their routes for Second Harvest North Central Food Bank /Grand Rapids Food Shelf. It is the eighteenth annual “Stamp Out Hunger” drive conducted by the National Association of Letter Carriers – the largest one day food drive in the nation. Non-perishable food donations can be placed by your mailbox and a carrier will pick them up for delivery to the food bank. The carriers extra effort each May helps our community and makes it very easy for individuals to donate. Last year the Grand Rapids postal carriers delivered over 8,000 pounds of donated food to the Grand Rapids Food Shelf which was distributed locally to people seeking assistance. Hunger is a very real issue in Minnesota communities. In March of 2010, 753 households needed to use the Grand Rapids Food Shelf to put food on the table. Food Shelf use has doubled from 2005 to 2009 and 40% of food shelf clients are children. Through the generosity of postal customers and the commitment of local letter carriers “Stamp Out Hunger” Food Drive will again help stock the shelves and help feed families in need. For more information, call the Food Shelf at 326-4420  

This is National Volunteer Week

Thanks to more than 500 people every year who give their time to Second Harvest and help us feed the hungry in our area.  Over 11,500 hours were logged by volunteers at the food bank in 2009.  Volunteers pack over 2,000 commodity boxes every month and help hundreds of families in the Grand Rapids Food Shelf.

Thanks to a very caring community!

Grand Casino Mille Lacs Donates $7,083 to Second Harvest to help local food shelves

Grand Casino Mille Lacs , along with donations from their Guests and Associates, donated a total of $7,083.50 to Second Harvest North Central Food Bank.  That translates into more than 35,000 meals and more than 5,000 pounds of food for hungry local families.

The donation was the result of the “Add a Quarter to your Order” promotion, in which Guests could donate a quarter to their food order at any food venue at either casino.

“We appreciate the compassionate support shown by our Guests and Associates to make this donation to local food shelves possible,” said Michael Garrow, Commissioner of Corporate Affairs for the Corporate Commission of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe. “Grand Casinos is proud to match the contributions made by our Guests and Associates and glad that we could help increase awareness about the needs of local food shelves as they feed hungry families in Minnesota.

During the check presentation, Sue Estee, Executive Director for Second Harvest North Central Food Bank, reiterated the fact that the demand for food is higher than it has been in recent years. “The donation that we receive today from Grand Casino Mille Lacs will go to purchase food to help the member agencies in Aitkin, Brainerd, Garrison, Onamia, and Isle. We appreciate the dedication Grand Casino has shown, along with its Guests and Associates, to hunger relief.”