eNEWS

A lot goes into making our Meals From The Heart meal-packing events successful. For instance, before the first scoop of rice ever hits the pouch, every pouch is individually labeled with a date stamp. This necessary and critical step in the process helps food shelves manage inventory and ensures that families get only the freshest meals possible. And we count on a fantastic team of dedicated volunteer stampers who put in the hours to prepare the pouches for packing.

At Meals From The Heart, we are always on the search for energetic, passionate people who like to help their neighbors. And sometimes, they find us. That’s what happened with Teri Hanson. She saw the Meals From The Heart sign on our building and walked through the front door, asking how she could help. She jumped in with both feet as a volunteer leader at meal-packing events and filling food bags for military families. We are thrilled to have her tireless passion and a ready smile on our team.

Cheryl Schmura knows a little something about the importance of a healthy food supply.

A few years ago, she retired from CHS Inc., a leading energy, grains, and foods company and the nation’s largest producer-owned cooperative. Before that, she served as vice president and chief financial officer for Agriliance, LLC, an agronomy marketing joint venture owned by CHS and Land O’Lakes. She also spent 25 years with 3M, holding various senior finance management and business development positions.

We hosted our Meals From The Heart “FEED THE NEED” luncheon in December at the Lake Elmo Event Center. It was nice to bring this event back after a two-year break. And it was a huge success. Our presenter was famed KARE11 storyteller Boyd Ruppert. During his nearly 40-year career in TV news, Boyd has become widely known for his video storyteller and teacher work. He was a genuinely engaging and entertaining presenter and shared some of his favorite tales.

If there is one thing we’ve learned from the countless meal-packing events and FOODBOX deliveries we’ve facilitated over the years is that no one can go it alone. And that goes double for us! Sure, as a small, nimble team, we wear many hats. But we could NEVER achieve success and help keep food on our neighbors’ tables without a vast support system.

Old National Bank in Minnesota wanted to celebrate its inaugural “Better Together Volunteer Days” with a huge meal-packing event. But with several locations around the state, it was virtually impossible to have one big, centralized event. So, we took the show on the road! Old National Bank’s “Better Together Volunteer Days” is an opportunity for bank employees to volunteer in the communities where they live and work.