As the Northland’s only “food bank,” we serve an important role in ensuring that nationally and regionally donated food makes its way quickly to our neighbors experiencing food insecurity. Whether it’s a Duluth store like Whole Foods Co-op who has surplus food to share, a Kwik Trip in Moose Lake, or a Walmart in Ashland, your support helps us mobilize donations for many NE Minnesota and NW Wisconsin agency and community partners and neighbors in need.

As Liz Seefeldt, Executive Director of The BRICK Ministries in Ashland shares, “The support facilitated by Second Harvest is invaluable. Donations from Kwik Trip, Super One Foods, and Walmart made up 30% of donations to our Food Shelf Program last year. Our pantry shoppers are assured a well-rounded selection of nutritious foods thanks to partnerships like these.”

In communities near Duluth, we pick up surplus food donations but when our donors are at a distance, we align them directly with a local partner, often one of the 40 area food shelves like The Brick that we support. Our “Fresh Connect Program” shortens the time and distance between food donation and recipient, which ensures fresher, quality food for local families, children, and seniors. A supply made possible by your generous support of us and our work in your local community.

Ida lives with her daughter and four beautiful grandchildren. They both work, but their income isn’t always enough to secure healthy, reliable food.

People know her as “the grandma of the world” because she loves everybody as if they were her own grandchildren.

“The women of my family taught me that community is everything,” she shares. “I am sure that they would be proud of me because I have carried on the tradition of loving people through food.”

Ida always invites neighbors to join in family meals. “It lets them know that they’re not forgotten, that somebody is thinking of them, and that somebody cares,” she said.

This year, Ida visited the Mobile Food Pantry Program where her family received food that she could use for her holiday meal. She is looking forward to making a big meal for her daughter and grandchildren.

“Holidays are important to me because they are all about family and laughter. I wasn’t always able to prepare a holiday meal for my family,” she shares. “I can remember wondering where we were going to get food. And, I can still hear my grandmother saying, ‘Baby, it’s never about how much food you’ve got. It’s about what you do with it.’”

Your generous support ensures food for thousands of holiday meals for neighbors like Ida and her family.

We couldn’t ensure holiday meals for neighbors like Ida and her family without wonderful partners like you. Here’s a sampling of others who are generously supporting our hunger-relief work:

• Costco
• Compeer Financial
• Kwik Trip
• Lloyd K. Johnson Foundation • Ordean Foundation