February 2003 - MN FoodShare Kick-off

With the concern 2003 will bring more families to food shelves, Minnesota companies are encouraged to sponsor local food shelves during the March Minnesota FoodShare Campaign. The Corporate Volunteerism Council - Twin Cities partnered with Minnesota FoodShare for our first program of 2003 on Wednesday, February 5th. About 50 representatives of Minnesota corporations and non-profits attended the Corporate Kickoff Breakfast sponsored by U.S. Bank, at the U.S. Bancorp Center in Downtown Minneapolis.

Sue Kainz, Minnesota FoodShare Campaign Coordinator, presented some statistics on the need for food throughout Minnesota today. In 2002, there were more than 1.3 million visits to Minnesota food shelves, which indicates about a 10% increase over the previous year. "We are well on our way toward setting a record for usage this year," she said. Rural areas such as Northwest Minnesota and the Iron Range are especially hard hit, with unemployment up in those areas. More than 50% of food shelf visitors are families with children. Most of those families are "working poor" and thus do not qualify for government assistance programs. Yet they cannot afford to buy food, as they need to use their limited income to pay for a high cost of housing, electricity and heating bills. Jean Rogers of the Division of Indian Work Food Shelf, serving the inner city of Minneapolis, testified to the need, especially for healthy food and hygiene products for children. The food shelf has experienced a 60% increase in need over the past year, but with decreasing contributions they are seeing the ill effects on children.

For campaign materials and other information or questions, please contact Sue Kainz at 612-721-8687, ext. 326, toll free 888-315-7390, or e-mail skainz@gmcc.org.

Visit the MinnesotaFoodshare website to get ideas and get going with your company"s contributions to eradicate hunger in Minnesota!

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