Second Harvest Heartland

“Hunger free minnesota, llc, a disregarded entity for tax purposes, does not have any local chapters, branches, or affiliates. All of their governing policies are the same as second harvest heartland.”

“The Form 990 is prepared by our Auditor with support from staff at Second Harvest Heartland. The Finance Committee of the Board reviews and approves the Form 990 which is then provided to all Board members prior to filing.”

“Upon hiring, employees are provided a copy of the conflict of interest policy. Human resources retains a signed copy from each employee stating they understood and accepted the terms of the policy. Members of the board are required to provide a signed agreement annually.”

“Shh periodically uses external surveys to evaluate all employees' compensation. Shh also uses other compensation sources as well as considering the cost-of-living adjustment per the federal social security administration guidelines, the consumer price index, and wage and salary trend reports to determine an appropriate average annual percentage. An average increase based on second harvest heartland's financials is approved for budgeting purposes. Employees are given a performance appraisal and a recommendation of an increase (if merited) is made to the executive team.”

“Copies of all information are available upon request. Form 990 is made available through the organization's website.”

“The Food Bank is the foundation for all our programs, and is Second Harvest Heartland's core business. We receive food donations from manufacturers, growers, retailers, government programs and the community, which are then distributed to member non-profits including food shelves, shelters, soup kitchens and programs throughout our 59-county service area. Nearly 89 million pounds of food was distributed through the Food Bank in the 12-month period ending 9/30/2015. The Product Capture Institute (PCI) Initiative has been designed to support the "source to excess" philosophy where growers donate excess produce by working with food banks for distribution to food shelves and meal programs. The PCI complements regional food bank produce sourcing and other existing product initiatives in order to expand the pounds of produce sources by participating food banks in the feeding America network, and facilitate replication of successful product capture and distribution strategies across the national network of food banks. Second Harvest Heartland's role in housing the PCI is teaching and connecting VIA creating and development of local product capture programs providing access to data, tools and subject matter expertise support based on key learnings from second harvest heartland's own product capture and distribution efforts and knowledge sharing across the member network. We are a hub of resources and information that actively drives collaboration between PCI members and food banks.”

“The Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP) is one of the foundational services provided through Second Harvest Heartland. Through the program, we provide food for seniors, distributing 30-35 pounds of nutritionally-balanced USDA food to individuals each month at no cost to them. Program participants are given a box of highly nutritious food packages as determined by the USDA. The packages may include canned fruits, vegetables and juices, dry and UHT milk, American cheese, canned meat, peanut butter or dried beans, cereal, rice or pasta. We serve about 9,000 seniors in 41 counties in Minnesota.”

“Since FY11, Second Harvest Heartland has made great strides in addressing the missing meals gap by moving beyond food distribution alone. We have enhanced our outreach efforts to connect eligible people with public resources through various programs. Second Harvest Heartland's SNAP Outreach Specialists visit from shelves, soup kitchens, workforce centers and other organizations as well as participate in events to help people understand the program, and to break down barriers to participation - from lack of awareness to difficult application processes or other complications. In FY15, we assisted over 3,000 households with SNAP applications and re-applications (a 300% increase since 2010), adding more than 3 million meals to families. The Summer Food Service Program is a meal reimbursement program that funds free meals to high-need children 18 and younger during the summertime. This USDA program, administered by the Minnesota Department of Education, provides children with complete, wholesome meals at safe places for children once school is out of session for the summer. Our staff conducts outreach efforts to increase awareness of SFSP, as well as administer a mini-grant program which provides meal-site sponsors with support to expand their efforts to feed more children. In 2015, we launched Food + You which is a school-based program that aims to increase availability of healthy food resources to students and their families by partnering with 15 participating schools in high-need areas of Minneapolis and Saint Paul. This multi-dimensional pilot program offers direct food distributions, support for accessing existing federal nutrition programs and connections to broader community resources.”

“Our mission is to end hunger through community partnerships. In the years since our 2001 founding, Second Harvest Heartland has evolved from a food bank focused almost solely on food distribution, to a hunger relief agency that drives efficiency, innovation and collaboration. Today, second harvest heartland is the largest hunger relief agency in the upper Midwest. In FY15, we distributed nearly 89 million pounds of food. Partnerships with retail donors, government agencies, corporations, foundations, non-profits and individuals coupled with leveraging efficiencies within the organization will allow us to continue to deliver more food. But the emergency food system can't solve the problem of hunger alone, so we are continuing to invest in community outreach efforts, beyond the food bank initiatives that connect those in need with the meals they need to live healthy, productive lives. These programs include the snap (the supplemental nutrition assistance program, formerly known as food stamps) outreach program, through which outreach specialists connect with food shelves, soup kitchens, and other organizations and events to help people understand the program, and to break down barriers to participation - from lack of awareness to complex application processes. One in three people who qualify for snap are leaving their benefits on the table in Minnesota. That's the equivalent to millions of already-funded food and financial assistance unclaimed which could also help Minnesota's economy. These initiatives also include the USDA's SFSP - the Summer Food Service Program - a Minnesota Department of Education administered program that funds free meals to children 18 and younger during the summertime. We identify high-need areas annually in our collaboration with the Minnesota department of education using school free and reduced meal program data to promote our mini-grants program to eligible agencies and organizations, as well as planning our outreach efforts for the year, including contacting school districts about the program, etc. Second Harvest Heartland has dedicated staff to conduct outreach in targeted communities and provides mini-grant organizations to help alleviate the barriers to participation. Fresh food Increasingly, fresh food is part of the Second Harvest Heartland offering, as retail partners and growers join hunger-relief efforts and continue to contribute record levels of perishable food. In fact, fresh foods comprised more than 53% of all food distributed throughout the fiscal year. Of this amount, more than 33.9 million pounds were distributed through the Food Rescue Program - largely comprised of fresh food such as produce, meat and dairy options. Partnerships continued to be formed or expanded in FY2015 with Minnesota growers and farmers, in an effort to further capture some of the more of the 300 million pounds of crops- corn, potatoes, apples, watermelon, squash and more - that are either plowed under or unsold each year in our state. This year, the produce capture program collected more than 9.8 million pounds of sweet corn, potatoes, apples, cabbage, carrots, cucumbers, watermelon, tomatoes and other produce. Volunteer program Our volunteer program is a vital component of our efforts to bring more food to those who are hungry in our community. In the coming years we will need additional support from volunteers in order to support our continued growth in food distribution, particularly in the areas of our Food Rescue Program and Harvest to Home, which provide opportunities for us to provide increased nutritious food steams for those in need. As a result, over the next five years, the need for volunteers is expected to increase four-fold. In order to meet this rapidly growing demand, and to better serve our volunteers, Second Harvest Heartland is making significant changes and investments in our volunteer program. In FY15, we were able to engage more than 30,500 individual volunteers who contributed more than”