Agency News | September 2023

Interim Program Director: Ashley Hall

We’d like to introduce you to our new Interim Program Director, Ashley Hall. While Ashley is new to us, she isn’t new to hunger-relief. She is currently the Executive Director of Koochiching County Food Access in International Falls, MN (a role she’s wrapping up in early September). She’s also a former Board Member of our sister food bank in Grand Rapids, MN, Second Harvest North Central Food Bank. Ashley is filling in for Dan Wilson who remains on an extended medical leave. In addition to her interim role, Ashley will be assisting us with some high-level strategic projects and may be reaching out to your agencies to learn more about your programs and services. Please join us in welcoming Ashley to our team.

Contact: Ashley Hall

Fruit of the Vine: SuperShelf Showcase

We have amazing partners throughout NE Minnesota and NW Wisconsin. One such partner is Fruit of the Vine Food Shelf in Duluth. This partner recently transformed itself into a SuperShelf. SuperShelf, supported by HealthPartners and the University of Minnesota, helps food shelves “create a welcoming environment for communities to access appealing, healthy food.” Thanks to support from the Statewide Health Improvement Partnership (SHIP) their transformation is being featured as part of a showcase event on Friday, September 29, 2023, 1:00–3:00 p.m. (presentations at 1:30 and 2:30 p.m.), at their location 1533 W. Arrowhead Road, Duluth. If you’re interested in learning more about SuperShelf you can tour and hear from their food shelf manager at this event.

Contact: Linda Erdahl

More Information: SuperShelf

Join the Fall Food Shelf Leader Cohort 

As food shelf leaders in our region, you wear multiple hats and are continually responding to the demands at your local food shelf. This often leaves little time for planning, assessing operational effectiveness or networking. You can change this with your participation in the fall 2023 Food Shelf Leader Cohort presented by the Foundation for Essential Needs (FFEN). Complete your application by Friday, September 8, 2023 to participate in this wonderful leadership opportunity. You’ll be provided with a values-informed framework to improve your organizational effectiveness, change management and community engagement.

Contact: Foundation for Essential Needs (FFEN)

More Information: Food Shelf Leader Cohort

Product Sourcing Update: September

Our product sourcing for our fiscal year 2024 (July through June) is off to a promising start. We are seeing more food donations across almost all our product sources than this same time last year. We are experiencing a 21% increase in donations from local sources and 11% increase from national donors when compared to July 2022. Our Fresh Connect agency partners are also experiencing these increases in their local direct donations (55% more than July 2022).  

Our fresh produce season and summer harvest are at its peak. We hope you are taking advantage of this free, abundant fresh and nutritious resource for your program participants. We typically see high levels of fresh produce into early fall (September–October) so please reach out if you’d like to increase your delivery of this product.  

We’re still awaiting news of USDA’s $1 billion investment in The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP). We will definitely keep you in the loop as more information becomes available. In the meantime, please don’t hesitate to reach out with any product sourcing needs.

Contact: Food Resource Developer

Great Learnings: Improving Food Access

If you were unable to attend the Foundation for Essential Needs’ (FFEN) “Improving Food Access through Visit Frequency” session you can now access the recording. It includes great conversations between 80 individuals from the hunger-relief sector. The conversation also includes a discussion about, and learnings from, the 2022 Minnesota Food Shelf Client Survey.

Contact: Foundation for Essential Needs (FFEN)

More Information: Improving Food Access through Visit Frequency Recording

Password to Recording: gvW9Rc4=

Agency Relations Office Hours: September 13

We had another great Agency Relations Office Hours in August. Our office hours are a great way to build connections and are available for all of our agency partners throughout NE Minnesota and NW Wisconsin. There’s no obligation to stay for the entire hour. Feel free to pop in and join the conversation. We hope to see you on Zoom for our next Agency Relations Office Hours September 13, 2023, 1:00–2:00 p.m.

Contact: Agency Relations Coordinator

More information: Join Office Hours (Zoom)

Our Schedule

Closed:

Closed in observance of Labor Day, Monday, September 4, 2023

Closed for inventory Friday, September 29, 2023

Standing Milk/Egg Order Pick-Ups:

Thursdays, 12:30–1:30 p.m.

Second Harvest Northern Lakes Food Bank is the Northland's largest hunger-relief charity. Our mission is to feed the hungry of NE Minnesota and NW Wisconsin. As a 501(c)(3) non-profit charitable organization recognized by the IRS, contributions are tax deductible to the fullest extent of the law.

© 2023 Second Harvest Northern Lakes Food Bank, all rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you are an important part of our hunger-relief work.

info@northernlakesfoodbank.org | northernlakesfoodbank.org