It's our first issue! 🎉 | Stronger Together

Stronger Together

10.14.2022 | Issue 1

Celebrating Culture Across the Great Plains

EDI Work in Food Banks

"You cannot change any society unless you take responsibility for it, unless you see yourself as belonging to it, and responsible for changing it."

- Grace Lee Boggs, Activist

Anti-hunger organizations play a fundamental role in increasing access to healthy, affordable, and culturally appropriate food options.

In the face of the rising costs of housing, transportation, and healthy food products, coupled with stagnant wages and systemic inequality, food banks are one tool in addressing the hunger crisis within the United States.

Feeding America, alongside its 200-member national network, stands out in size and reach as they attempt to close the hunger gap experienced by over 40 million people each year.

- From the ‘Anchoring Equity in Action’ report, by Madelaine Britt

Indigenous Peoples' Day - Oct. 10

On Indigenous Peoples’ Day, we honor the sovereignty, resilience, and immense contributions that Native Americans have made to the world; and we recommit to upholding our solemn trust and treaty responsibilities to Tribal Nations, strengthening our Nation-to-Nation ties.

For centuries, Indigenous Peoples were forcibly removed from ancestral lands, displaced, assimilated, and banned from worshiping or performing many sacred ceremonies. Yet today, they remain some of our greatest environmental stewards. They maintain strong religious beliefs that still feed the soul of our Nation.

Native peoples challenge us to confront our past and do better, and their contributions to scholarship, law, the arts, public service, and more continue to guide us forward.

-from 'A Proclamation on Indigenous Peoples' Day, 2022'

Read the full Proclamation Here

What is Indigenous Peoples' Day?

Spotify Podcast Link

Pop-ups in Fargo offer Cultural Food Options

We've successfully finished our first month of Cultural Food Pop Ups!

Throughout the four distributions held in the Fargo area, we were able to serve 966 Households.

Through our Cultural Food Survey and Focus Groups, we learned of specific food items that many communities prefer, which led to developing these pop-up pantries.

Our distributions featured rice, dried beans, corn flour, okra, broccoli, eggplant, Halal chicken stock and many other items available to families. We also have seen that the certificates are being used and families are enjoying using the certificates on Halal Meats!

This program is continuously evolving, and we will most likely see different versions of it throughout the next few months, concluding in January of 2023.

Thanks to everyone who was able to contribute to the success of these distributions!

Learn more about Halal foods here

EDI Vocab 101: Cultural Competency

Cultural competency is the integration and transformation of knowledge about individuals and groups of people into specific standards, policies, practices, and attitudes used in appropriate cultural settings to increase the quality of services.

Additional EDI Terms here

Current and Upcoming Events

See the full calendar for this month.

National Disability Empowerment Awareness Month (October)

Learn about the "I Can" Campaign

Pregnancy & Infant Loss Awareness Month (October)

Raising Awareness: What's the Point??

Native American Heritage Month (November)

Additional Resources