If you walked into our office this week, you’d see a HUGE collection of food in our lobby. Since 2008, we as staff have personally collected food and cash to donate to food shelves throughout our region. Each month, we deliver about 50 pounds of food and about $100 to a different food shelf.
This fall, however, staff were in competition with each other to collect even more. Accounting Specialist Deb Berggren, Community Resource Assistant Marsha Frauendienst and Loan Servicing Specialist Janet Menton are the amazing leaders of this effort. They divided us staff into teams and coordinated the challenge.
During Monday’s board and staff lunch, the winning team was announced. It was a big surprise, since one of the other teams showed up that morning with a shopping cart full of food!
Here’s a note from Deb, Janet and Marsha:
The results exceeded by far anything our committee envisioned when we began the journey. I can’t think of a more worthy project that we all can participate in and what a meaningful time of the year to support others in our communities.
The total of all food collected and ready to distribute = 803.59 pounds and $300!
The next seven food shelves on our list to receive donations will include: Lac qui Parle (Madison), Lincoln (Lake Benton-Ivanhoe), Lyon (Marshall), Meeker (Litchfield), Murray (Slayton), Rock (Luverne) and Yellow Medicine (Granite Falls).
I am so proud of our food shelf committee and all staff. This was a fun way to work together, but even more importantly, it’s a way for us to directly support people and families in our southwest Minnesota communities who need our help.
