"Tour de Tonka 10th Anniversary", Sun Sailor, August 2015

By Will Hoverman
Sun Sailor Newspapers
August 3, 2015

Tour de Tonka is right around the corner as the area preps for the massive bike-ride fundraiser occuring Saturday, Aug. 1.

Tour de Tonka, known by some as “Minnesota’s Ride,” has grown to host
more than 3,000 riders from across the country since its conception a decade ago.  Riders can choose from six different distances: 16, 28, 49, 57, 77 or 100 miles.

“Bicycle riders participate because Tour de Tonka is pure fun,” said Tour de Tonka Director Tim Litfin. “All ages and abilities – from families and recreational bicyclists to cycling teams and serious athletes – enjoy what Tour de Tonka offers them.”  In 2014, riders came from 204 different communities, 52 Minnesota counties, 20 states and two countries.

The celebrated ride has much more than just the cycling. There are 14 rest stops along the way with food, music, rest and conversation.  Dozens of volunteers help make the event a success. From door prizes, live bands, food vendors and charity drives, this event has grown to become a West Metro staple.  “It’s all about the rider,” Litfin explains. “Tour de Tonka is unlike bike rides in the state and in the Upper Midwest.”  

Tour de Tonka’s routes move through 24 different communities including Chanhassen, Chaska, Deephaven, Delano, Eden Prairie, Excelsior, Greenwood, Independence, Long Lake, Mayer, Minnetonka, Minnetrista, Mound, Navarre, Norwood-Young America, Orono, Plymouth, Shorewood, Spring Park, Tonka Bay, Victoria, Waconia, Watertown and Wayzata. All of these locations offer scenic views of beautiful roads, trails and most of all, lakes.

The 100-mile ride begins at 7 a.m. from the Minnetonka Community Education Center on Vine Hill Road in Deephaven.  The 16, 28, 49, and 77 mile rides begin as before from Minnetonka High School at 7:30 a.m.  Pre-race day registration and packet pick-up are available at Minnetonka High School on Friday, July 31, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. On race day, parking at each location opens at 5:30 a.m. as does registration and packet pick up.

Louis Ricard of Wayzata has been participating in Tour de Tonka since the beginning, earning him the title of “Legacy Rider.” He admires just how much traction the event has gained.  “It’s grown from a handful to over 3,000 riders now,” he said. “I think the breadth of how many different types of competitors is great too. You get old riders, young riders — I think there’s a 74-year-old riding this year. It’s also really cool to see families, groups and organizations participate. Sometimes you see some people with 30-40 members wearing the same shirt.”

Ricard also emphasizes the sense of community felt at the event.  “There’s a whole element of camaraderie at the end of the race with pizza, music and so on. It’s really a great end to a great day,” he said.  Tour de Tonka partners with the ICA Food Shelf to combine fun with
charity.  A percentage of the registration fee is donated to the ICA. Riders are also encouraged to donate food or money on or before the day of the event.  In 2014, Tour de Tonka provided $5,980 for the ICA. To date, the ride has raised over $36,000 to support the local food shelf.

Whether you are looking for a family-friendly day of recreation or an intense athletic expedition, Tour de Tonka provides both.

"Poverty in the Twin Cities", Star Tribune, June 2015

Raymond Grumney
Star Tribune
June 22, 2015

Suburban and rural poverty jumped 92 percent from 2000 to 2013 while it grew 24% in the core cities, according to a new Metropolitan Council report.   The Metropolitan Council defines poverty as 185% of the federal poverty threshold ($44,093 for a family of four in 2013).

"Poverty Nearly Doubles in Twin Cities", Star Tribune, June 2015

Shannon Prather
Star Tribune,  
June 21, 2015

Poor people living in the suburbs of the Twin Cities now significantly outnumber the needy in Minneapolis and St. Paul, an accelerating trend that is presenting many local governments with stark new challenges.

Pockets of concentrated poverty have emerged across the metro suburbs, in places such as St. Louis Park, Coon Rapids and Shakopee. Meanwhile, in other suburban communities such as Richfield and Brooklyn Park, poverty that sprang up over the last decade has become a persistent issue.

These are the findings of a seminal new Metropolitan Council report that says about 385,000 people live in poverty in the suburbs, compared to about 259,000 in the urban core.  Libby Starling, the Met Council’s manager of regional policy and research, called the suburban spread of poverty significant and surprising.  “In 2000, there were no pockets of concentrated poverty outside of Minneapolis, St. Paul and Fort Snelling,” she said.

Suburban and rural poverty in the seven-country metro area rose by 92 percent from 2000 to 2013, while it grew by 24 percent in the two core cities, according to the report, which relied on census data. As suburban poverty rises, so too does debate in many areas over the kinds of housing and mass transit that would better serve low-income residents. At times, that question is becoming more tense and divisive, or prompting unease about the arrival of so many poor families.

“It’s not the typical face of poverty,” said Cathy Capone Bennett, a consultant with the nonprofit Urban Land Institute Minnesota and Regional Council of Mayors. “It’s you and me and the neighbor next door. … They may be working but not at the same level as before.”

Poverty’s shift to the suburbs also has links to the aging evident in some of those communities. “What was shiny and new 30, 40, 50 years ago is now in need of investment,” Starling said.

Some skeptics question the Met Council’s methodology and conclusions, noting that it uses a much higher income threshold than the federal government. It defines poverty for a family of four as an annual income of less than $44,093, compared to the federal government’s $23,834. Poverty is considered concentrated if 40 percent or more of households in a census tract fall below that threshold.

One former Met Council leader says the totals may reflect high concentrations of poverty in a few suburban cities, rather than across the region. “Those statistics need a deeper dive in a couple areas,” said Peter Bell, who worked under Gov. Tim Pawlenty.

Bell said the flow of wealthy empty nesters into Minneapolis could be shifting averages in urban areas. He also wondered if a few poorer suburbs could be spiking the suburban poverty count. “If you took some of those out of the equation, does that distort the picture as well?” he said.

But Starling said the report is compelling. “The suburbanization of poverty is a national trend,” she said. “You can look at the data. It’s real.”

Some suburban leaders are addressing the rise in poverty head-on, while others are still examining the numbers.

Maplewood Mayor Nora Slawik led a discussion on suburban poverty at the spring meeting of suburban mayors from across the metro area. She said that her work with the Maplewood City Council to bring bus rapid transit to the city and to build a mix of affordable and market-rate housing is about connecting people to jobs and serving residents at all income levels.

“A good-paying job is the quickest way to confront poverty,” Slawik said. “I really get concerned when people start talking about ‘those people.’ ”

Coon Rapids Mayor Jerry Koch, a real estate agent, said he’s not surprised by the new numbers but cautions against overemphasizing them.  “Maybe it’s the direction we are trending right now, but I don’t think it’s a big spike, and we will recover,” he said.  Koch said his city is reinvesting in housing, redoing its parks and now has the Northstar Commuter Rail connecting it to downtown Minneapolis. “We are trying to attract families here, whatever their makeup,” Koch said. “We are building up a nice infrastructure for everyone.”

Leaders of Anoka-Hennepin Schools, the state’s largest school district with 40,000 suburban students, say they see firsthand the rise of suburban poverty.  

Tara Nordgren (with her son Allan) filled grocery bags at the Anoka County Brotherhood Council food shelf in Anoka, Minn., on Thursday, June 18, 2015. Nordgren, who works at Burger King, needs help with groceries since her food stamps were cut back.
 
The number of children taking free or reduced-price lunches during the school year has nearly doubled in a decade, from 19 to 36 percent of the district’s student population. In recent years, Coon Rapids Middle School opened the “Falcon Nest,” which provides food, school supplies and personal hygiene products to needy students.

“You have so many people right on the cusp out here,” said Noah Atlas, director of the district’s nutrition program.

Working, but needy

Anoka resident Tara Nordgren, 29, moved to an apartment there because the $600-a-month rent is lower than rent in the central cities. She’s originally from Fridley, and many of her family members live in the north metro.  Last Thursday, she walked through her neighborhood to the Anoka County Brotherhood Council food shelf, pushing her 2-year-old son Allan in a stroller with one hand and pulling an empty red wagon with the other.

Nordgren has worked a variety of jobs, including retail, fast food and as a personal care attendant. She now works at Burger King while her mother cares for her son. She doesn’t have a car. To get to work or run errands, she takes the bus or walks. Even so, she still struggles to pay bills and is grateful for the free groceries — especially the fresh produce — she receives once a month at the food shelf.  “He loves the fruit and veggies,” Nordgren said of her son.  She hopes to one day buy a manufactured home. “I am saving so we can have a place of our own,” she said.

Jerri Loughry, manager of the food shelf, said demand continues to grow regardless of the improving economy. “We’ve had a 12 percent increase in the number of families we serve compared to last year,” she said last week. “It’s still growing.”  “I find that surprising,” she added. “I anticipated at some point we would level off. … We have an awful lot of people out in the suburbs still struggling.”

"Sizzle for a Cause Cooking Competition is a Hit", SunSailor + LakeshoreWeekly, Feb 2015

Stephanie Helseth
Sun Sailor
Lakeshore Weekly News
February 28, 2015

ICA Food Shelf Executive Director Peg Keenan welcomes guests to the third-annual Sizzle for a Cause at Bayview Event Center Feb. 19. The cooking competition features west metro chefs who are challenged to cook with a mystery ingredient announced at the last minute. The restaurant with the best dish takes home the coveted Golden Cleaver award. Proceeds benefit the ICA Food Shelf. Tim Mahoney, Rachel Hutton, Jeff Edmondson, Paul Douglas and Rusty Gatenby served as guest judges.

"Volunteer Ron Kamp Recognized", Lake Minnetonka Magazine, Feb 2015

Samantha Garretto
Lake Minnetonka Magazine
February 2015

Ron Kamps of Minnetonka is no stranger to a full workweek. The former director of worldwide sales and marketing at Control Data Corp. (now Seagate) spent a large part of his life serving in high-profile leadership positions at a number of worldwide companies for more than four decades. Now Kamps fills his days with a different kind of work: volunteering for nonprofit organizations around the Minnetonka area for more than 40 hours per week.

Kamps’ passion for volunteerism started in Arlington, Minn., where he grew up in a community that was a proponent of hard work and giving back. After working his way through high school and college, Kamps entered the business world at 20 years old. His career took off and took him around the world to experience diverse cultures. Eight years ago, after more than 40 years working for worldwide organizations, he decided he had flown enough miles and was ready begin his next chapter: retirement.

Retirement has given Kamps an opportunity to dedicate his time to serving others by following a model he believes to be the key to a successful community. “First you learn, then you earn, then you serve,” Kamps says. “This is how a community survives.”

Faith has also played a large role in how Kamps provides service to others. A discussion with his pastor helped him determine what his talents were and where to invest them, which is how Kamps landed at the Intercongregational Communities Association Food Shelf in Minnetonka a few months after he retired.  “The ICA is where it all began,” Kamps says. “God has given me the gifts… I am humbled, honored and blessed to help.”

Kamps began his volunteer legacy with the food shelf by picking up and delivering food, and his business background helped him feel at ease building relationships with the people he encountered as his involvement grew within the organization. “I learned who people were and what their needs were,” Kamps says. He now serves on the executive board of directors and is vice president for the ICA.

Peg Keenan, executive director of the ICA Food Shelf, recognizes that Kamps has a special touch when it comes to making connections inside and outside the organization.  “He seems to know everyone,” Keenan says, “and those he doesn’t know seem to know him and will come up to ask him what ICA needs or how they can help.”

Including his work with the ICA Food Shelf, Kamps dedicates 40 to 60 hours a week to the community. He has served as a board member on 14 organizations and helps write grants for the Minnetonka School District. Organizing special events, and coordinating speakers and mentors for students are but a few of his contributions as a member of the district. “He is very humble about all the help he gives ICA Food Shelf and many other organizations in the community,” Keenan says.

Brian Tichy, president of the Minnetonka Diamond Club where Kamps serves on the board, refers to Kamps as a “multi-faceted individual” who coordinates and executes special events to help the club reach their fundraising goals. “We had a car wash in the fall,” Tichy says. “The business [we worked with] volunteered to donate their entire revenue—not just profit, their whole revenue—that day to the organization. Ron coordinated it.”

“He has this connection with businesses,” Tichy says. “He’s out in front, a leader, a front man. He will bring people in.”

Kamps also enjoys making community involvement a family affair. He’s been married to his wife, Elaine, for more than 50 years, has four children, 11 grandchildren and one great-grandson, who attend fundraising events and contribute to their community. Even his grandchildren have taken after their grandfather’s dedication to serving others. “My granddaughter volunteered for a six-month internship with ICA,” Kamps says, “and all five of my grandchildren in Minnesota volunteer for the food shelf as well.”

Kamps attributes his success to the people he works with who make it all come together.  “I am part of a team on all these organizations, and they aren’t successful without everyone working together,” Kamps says. “I’m just a member of the teams and humbled to be part of them to help our community.”

"The changing face of Hunger", Star Tribune, Aug 2014

By Molly Priesmeyer  
Star Tribune
August 7, 2014

Earlier this week, during National Night Out, I took my dog for a walk through the mazes of bouncy castles and water guns and smoking BBQ pits.

We were wandering interlopers. Gathering snapshots of the blocks and communities that surround us. 

A woman came over with her kids and asked if she could pet my dog. "Where do you live?" I asked. Because this is the awkward intro question people ask each other on National Night Out. She told me she lived about eight blocks away. She said she was stopping at parties all over because, she admitted, "my kids and me are hungry."  They were going from block to block, she said, picking out pieces to make their first good meal in days. 

The thing is, this is not so unusual.

According to recent data from Hunger Solutions Minnesota, 1 in 5 families in Minnesota faces hunger or food insecurity. To be "food insecure" means you lack access to enough nutritious food for an active, healthy life.

Rising food insecurity—or not knowing where your next meal is coming from—is the result of numerous shifting factors. Food affordability. Increased personal debt. Price surges. The housing crisis. Changing medical needs and costs. Steady employment.

According to HSM, Minnesota's real household income is down 9.5 percent over the last ten years. And in the summertime, without school lunches, it gets increasingly hard for families already on the brink to make ends meet. In 2013, HSM says, food-shelf usage in the nine-county metro area reached a record number 1.7 million visits. Or a nearly 50 percent increase from pre-recession numbers. 

Unpacking all of the issues related to food insecurity (public policy, farming, the economy, a growing public health crisis) is a lot to do in this short blog post.

But here is a small snapshot of people you probably know. People in your community. People who live a few blocks away. People who live next door....

"New ICA Foodshelf Up and Running", Sun Sailor, July 2014

Stephanie Helseth
Sun Sailor
July 31, 2014

ICA Foodshelf Executive Director Peg Keenan spoke at the grand opening celebration for the newest ICA Foodshelf site on K-Tel Drive in Minnetonka July 22. The ICA Foodshelf began operating in 1971 and has since expanded to two individual locations and a mobile food shelf. The project cost approximately $565,000 and Steiner Development renovated the space at 11588 K-Tel Drive. Fundraising for the Capital Campaign is still active.

"Startling New Picture of Hunger in America", National Geographic, July 2014

Tracie McMillan
National Geographic,
July 16, 2014

Her face was small and pitiful: a brown-eyed, blond-curled toddler, eyes darting, lying on a doctor's table. First we saw her belly, rounder than her skinny legs would suggest, prodded by a physician. And then the camera pulled back, showing the filthy, caked bottoms of her feet.

The year was 1968, and the child was a subject of "Hunger in America," a CBS Reports documentary that aired amid President Lyndon B. Johnson's War on Poverty. Other scenes showed sharecropper families with rat-infested bedding, and Mexican-Americans too hungry to move.

That was the face of American hunger in 1968. The girl was one of ten million Americans considered hungry, a number equivalent to 5 percent of the population. Most of the hungry lacked jobs, and the unemployment rate of 4 percent nearly tracked the rate of hunger. But however dire that hunger was, it was marginal, with 1 in 20 Americans going without food.

Today, nearly 50 years later, hunger in America looks very different.

It's a Different Hunger

The biggest difference between hunger in 1968 and today may well be sheer numbers: In 2012, 49 million Americans struggled with hunger, according to the USDA. That's 16 percent of the population, nearly double the then unemployment rate.

For the sake of comparison, that translates to 1 in 6 Americans. Much of that, say experts, can be attributed to a change in how we measure hunger.

In 2006 the USDA traded the term "hunger" for "food insecurity," shifting the focus from whether people were literally starving to whether staying fed was a problem. Researchers had traditionally measured hunger through physical symptoms, like stunted growth and being underweight. Now they began asking Americans whether they were ever actually hungry: Had they missed meals, worried about running out of food, or gone to bed hungry.

Measuring food insecurity rather than hunger has led to a startling new picture of America, says Janet Poppendieck, a sociologist at Hunter College whose recently re-released Breadlines Knee-Deep in Wheatexplores the link between hunger and agricultural policy.

When it comes to America's hungry, says Poppendieck, "they're not hungry all the time; they just can't count on not being hungry."

The Hungry Have Stuff—and Jobs

In New York City's Bronx borough, more than one-third of the residents and nearly half the children are food insecure. Even so, the people who show up at food assistance programs there may surprise you, says Christopher Bean, executive director of Part of the Solution, a nonprofit that runs a soup kitchen and food pantry in the borough.

"The most common misperception comes back to the idea that the individuals ... who are food insecure are ... street homeless," says Bean. Part of the Solution sees those people, he says, but its clientele "is families, it is mothers with baby strollers, it's people with cell phones."

Today the hungry are almost always employed, a sea change since the 1960s. In 2012, 60 percent of all food-insecure Americans lived in households with a full-time worker; another 15 percent lived in households with a part-time worker.

It is now so common for people to be both employed and hungry, says Bean, that in 2011 Part of the Solution added Saturday hours to its pantry in hopes of serving more working families.

This year the nonprofit decided to expand into evenings and possibly Sundays for the same reason. "We've seen the trend of more and more working people struggling with hunger," says Bean. "We're changing our program delivery model to accommodate them."

Hunger Becoming a Problem of Wages

At its base, modern hunger is a problem of income, says Christian Gregory, an economist with the USDA's Economic Research Service.

In June, Gregory and two colleagues published a report about food insecurity in postrecession America, listing the three biggest predictors. The first was unemployment and a sheer lack of income: If you don't have a job, you're more likely to lack food.

But the next two predictors of food insecurity were variations on the theme of low wages. One was inflation, which in this context means the failure of wages to keep up with the cost of living. The other was rising food prices. Indeed, even though more people had jobs, food prices rose enough that they couldn't necessarily buy more food with their wages.

And that too is a significant difference from 1968. Today the federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour. In nominal terms, that's a huge raise over the $1.60 on offer in 1968. But adjust for inflation—for rising health and housing costs, for the skyrocketing cost of education—and 1968 looks much better. That minimum wage, today, would equal $10.94.

When it comes to hunger, said Gregory, "it really matters how much income is available to people."

Tracie McMillan is the author of The American Way of Eating and a senior fellow at the Schuster Institute for Investigative Journalism at Brandeis University.

"New Minnetonka food shelf combines efficiency and dignity", Star Tribune, July 2014

Danielle Dullinger  
Star Tribune  
JULY 15, 2014

For many, the faces that come to mind when envisioning Americans living with hunger are those of inner-city residents. But according to the Brookings Institution, a public policy research nonprofit in Washington, D.C., more low-income American families now live in the suburbs than in large cities or rural areas.

The rise in suburban poverty has led a long-established food shelf in Minnetonka to broaden its services. Intercongregation Communities Association (ICA) recently expanded beyond its St. Davids Road location to a brand-new facility at 11588 K-Tel Drive, where it will hold a grand opening celebration on Tuesday, July 22.

MORE

For many, the faces that come to mind when envisioning Americans living with hunger are those of inner-city residents. But according to the Brookings Institution, a public policy research nonprofit in Washington, D.C., more low-income American families now live in the suburbs than in large cities or rural areas.

The rise in suburban poverty has led a long-established food shelf in Minnetonka to broaden its services. Intercongregation Communities Association (ICA) recently expanded beyond its St. Davids Road location to a brand-new facility at 11588 K-Tel Drive, where it will hold a grand opening celebration on Tuesday, July 22.

ICA, which has been around for 40 years, is a coalition of faith groups, supported by businesses and other groups, that offers a variety of services to those in need in the west metro communities of Deephaven, Excelsior, Greenwood, Hopkins, Minnetonka, Shorewood and Woodland.

ICA’s new facility doesn’t look like most food shelves. Walking into the K-Tel Drive store, clients see aisles of food, checkout lanes, carts and baskets for filling up on groceries, and more fresh produce than most food shelves are able to provide. This increasingly popular kind of food shelf is known as the “choice model.”

Executive Director Peg Keenan said ICA decided to expand its services to K-Tel Drive to better serve its growing clientele and to provide a more dignified way to help those who are struggling with uncertainty, poverty and hunger.

Clients are able to choose what they need from rows of canned items, boxed goods, fresh fruits and vegetables, and refrigerated and frozen goods, along with household items or pet food.

They are encouraged to take what they need just for the immediate future, and then are able to come more frequently, Keenan said. With more frequent visits, they get fresher produce, key to a nutritious diet.

The choice model also saves money because less food goes to waste, she said.

The new location is much larger than the St. Davids location. Not only is there more space to shop and more freezer space, but a back room allows for more storage and sorting space.

ICA gets 43 percent of its food during food rescue efforts five days a week. Every day, volunteers drive a refrigerated truck to stores that sell fresh groceries to pick up near- or at-peak foods.

Other services offered by ICA are “emergency bags,” or pre-bagged food, for people needing some quick help with meals, and a mobile unit that heads out to places like senior citizens’ complexes to distribute food to those who find it difficult to travel.

“We just don’t want anybody to be hungry,” Keenan said.

Beyond offering food to those in need, ICA offers employment services, economic services, transportation services and more, Keenan said. An overarching goal is to prevent housing loss, she said. Once someone loses a home, everything else tends to spiral downward, Keenan said.

More help, more heart

The expansion to K-Tel Drive was necessary because of ICA’s increased clientele. In 2008, St. Davids had 469 food services, or appointments for individuals to receive food. From Oct. 1, 2013, to now, the two locations have had more than 1,100 services, Keenan said. ICA serves 842 households in seven communities from Shorewood to Hopkins. The small location just couldn’t continue to service as well as the addition of the new location could, Keenan said.

“It expands the capacity to serve more clients in a dignified way,” said Laura Swenson, ICA public relations and communications specialist. Being able to “shop” for what they need allows clients to leave the food shelf with dignity.

Funding for all the services provided, along with the new location, comes from a variety of places, but the largest portion, 44 percent, comes from individual donors in the community, Keenan said.

“It’s hard work to find money,” but the community members have been incredibly supportive, she said.

The new location is hosting a grand opening celebration from 4 to 7 p.m. on July 22 for the community to view the new site and gain a better understanding of suburban poverty and the choice model of food shelf.

Keenan also encourages those interested in volunteering to attend the grand opening. ICA has almost 750 volunteers but is in need of more, she said.

The food shelf “is a good symbol of community support and understanding of people who are in need and struggling,” Keenan said. “It’s a symbol saying they are respected. We value them, [and are] here to help them.”

"Mount Calvary and St. Luke’s Tend Gardens that Help the Community", Lake Minnetonka Magazine,

Lake Minnetonka Magazine
May 2014

Think back to the last time you ate an apple, peeled a potato or sliced a pepper. Did you wonder what journey it took to get from farm to store to you? When eating pineapple in the dead of winter requires just a trip to the store, it’s easy to forget where our food actually comes from. Two local churches are aiming to change that, while providing for those most in need.

St. Luke’s Presbyterian Church

Six years ago, Judy Gregg watched An Inconvenient Truth, the documentary about Al Gore’s campaign to make the issue of global warming known worldwide. For the sustainability committee at St. Luke’s Presbyterian Church in Minnetonka, the film was an inspiration. They knew they had to act, but how? In January, 2008, a class with Terry Gips from the Alliance for Sustainability, a nonprofit based in Minneapolis, led the church to form a group focused on environmental issues. Their first priority was restoring the dry compact soil on the church’s property. “Going with the land was the most affordable way to start,” says Gregg. Because of their focus on sustainability, the church wasn’t interested in conventional agricultural practices. They began exploring the use of permaculture design for the church’s garden. “Permaculture is a design system that looks at what nature does. It’s learning from nature,” says Gregg. “You won’t see monoculture in nature. You’ll see plants, trees, animals living harmoniously.”

Pesticides and fertilizers aren’t used in St. Luke’s garden. Instead, plants that benefit and enhance each other are purposely grouped together in what are known as plant guilds. Herbs and flowers are planted to attract beneficial insects. All of the fruits and vegetables from St. Luke’s garden are donated to ICA Food Shelf in Minnetonka.

In the first year, the garden produced 550 pounds of produce. By the third year, the garden yielded more than 1,000 pounds. Gregg attributes the growth to improved soil conditions. But for St. Luke’s, the garden is about more than the amount of food. “We are trying not only to provide to the food shelf but to also get people connected with the land, to bring them outside,” says Gregg. Last summer, the church hosted an open garden event and invited the community to learn about permaculture and good gardening practices. “It was a great time,” says Gregg. “The kids got involved, as well as their parents. Some of these kids and adults were astounded by what broccoli looked like growing.”

Mount Calvary Lutheran Church

Mount Calvary Lutheran Church’s garden began with a need. Four years ago, the Excelsior church started the New Friends Community Ministry, which offers a free, volunteer-run monthly meal to anyone in the community. As attendance at the meals grew, the church asked what else they could do that was connected to feeding. They decided on a garden.

Christopher Anderson, director of community outreach at Mount Calvary, spearheaded the program, applying for a grant through Hennepin County’s Gardening Matters program. They also receive support from the Mount Calvary Foundation. Mount Calvary has donated 1,000 pounds of fresh produce from the garden to ICA over the last two years. Anything extra has gone to the New Friends Community Meal. Volunteers, including church members, Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, as well as the curious, tend the gardens. “Some people will randomly walk by and offer their help,” says Anderson.

Like at St. Luke’s, Mount Calvary staff members have observed that the garden reunites people with the land. “It’s really helpful for everyone to understand that we can take seeds and grow,” he says. “We have a resource—our people and our land. It’s not a huge resource, but we have it. It’s just another way of sharing with the community what the church is about.”

"ICA Food Shelf breaks ground at new site", Sun Sailor, March 2014

Stephanie Gonyou
Sun Sailor
March 11, 2014

Larger space will allow for larger client base

The ICA Food Shelf in Minnetonka will soon be able to serve more people more often with the expansion site now under construction on K-Tel Drive.

The groundbreaking ceremony for the new site was held Monday, Feb. 10. The ICA had been using the site for warehouse space in the past. After realizing it had potential, the staff decided it could be used for things bigger than storage.

The current sites serve more than 800 families each month, adding up to more than 1100 food services each month. The ICA is able to provide between 40 and 50 pounds of food for each individual per visit.

Since the new 13,400-square-foot site is considerably larger than the current site, the ICA will continue to store bulk donations there as well as serve their clients. Public relations and communications specialist Laura Swenson is looking forward to having everything in one place.

“The logistics are simplified and efficient and saves us money, which helps our clients,” Swenson said.

At the K-Tel site, clients will have the opportunity to participate in a choice model food shelf. With a choice model, clients will still be provided a list of nutritionally-sound groceries to bring home, but they will have options between a variety of choices instead of being given one item without input.

The current prepackaged model practiced at the ICA provides clients with a certain number of specific types of products based on the families’ needs. There are A-bags, B-bags and C-bags, each bag containing a different set of groceries. Clients are sent home with the combination of bags that will best suit their needs.

Executive Director Peg Keenan believes offering a choice model to clients will provide them with a sense of self-respect that they can’t feel otherwise.

“People feel a greater sense of dignity when they get to select their own food,” Keenan said.

Clients who prefer the anonymity of the prepackaged model can continue to visit the St. David’s Road and Mount Calvary Lutheran Church locations. It’s important to Keenan to have both options available.

The mobile food shelf service will also continue serving clients that are disabled, elderly or for some other reason can’t make the trip.

At the K-Tel road site, clients will have the opportunity to visit three times each month instead of once or twice like at the current locations. This will provide them with more access to fresh produce and, in turn, a healthier diet.

According to the Hunger in Minnesota Campaign, a project working to close Minnesota’s gap in missing meals and a general hunger problem, 600,000 Minnesotans are missing 100,000 million meals every year.

While the ICA acts as a supplemental grocery provider and doesn’t have the ability to fulfill a family’s entire grocery need, the staff at the ICA Food Shelf is happy to be a part of the solution. The ICA Food Shelf works independently from the Hunger in Minnesota Campaign.

The new site will be open later than the current sites, and Keenan believes this will help the ICA reach more people. The convenience of later hours makes it easier for people with obligations during the day to stop by on their way home.

The main goal of the food shelf is to help their clients through a tough time. Swenson is confident expanding their campus will reinforce that mission.

“Our goal is to get people back on their feet,” Swenson said. “If they’re unemployed or underemployed – if we can help in any way to get them out of that, that’s our goal.”

Starting a Capital Campaign was one of the first steps to the expansion process. This allowed for donors to make pledges spread over a course of a few years. One donor, Keenan said, made a three-year pledge.

Keenan said they need $565,000 total, and have raised all but $32,000.

The new site will open whether or not the rest is raised before the grand opening, but she said any donation counts and can help them achieve their goal of helping more people each year.

Construction at the new site should wrap up in late April, and Keenan expects to have it running in May.

"Empty Bowls marks sweet 16", Sun Sailor, March 2014

Matthew Hankey
Sun Sailor
March 5, 2014

Annual event is fundraiser for ResourceWest, ICA Food Shelf 

Last December, Empty Bowls organizer Barb Westmoreland asked Hopkins City Council member Jason Gadd, and his wife, Laura Chesney-Gadd, if they would be the 2014 community cochairs for the annual fundraiser.

Gadd has made bowls for the event for nearly a decade, and Laura has been making bowls for more than five years. When Westmoreland approached them, it was almost as if their decision had already been made.

“We pretty much knew as soon as she asked that we would do it,” said Chesney-Gadd. “It’s such an honor to serve in this capacity.”

“It’s hard to say no to Barb,” Gadd said with a laugh during a phone interview last week.

“We love Barb,” added Chesney-Gadd.

It was Westmoreland’s vision that brought Empty Bowls to Hopkins in the first place, said Gadd.

“She is one of the main reasons Empty Bowls exists here in Hopkins, and it’s her passion that makes it possible,” he said.

Sixteen years ago, Westmoreland brought to Hopkins the idea for a grassroots  food shelf fundraiser that began in 1990 at Lahser High School in Bloomfield Hills, Mich. Funds raised are donated to nonprofits ResourceWest and the ICA Food Shelf.

In 1999, the inaugural Empty Bowls kicked off when Hopkins Public Schools art teachers and Westmoreland, along with other leaders in Hopkins Community Education, saw the growing need for a fund raiser for hunger in our own community.

And, art students and community potters have been creating hundreds of unique soup bowls for the event ever since, said Westmoreland.

Sixteen years later, Empty Bowls has grown to be a true community tradition, Gadd said.

“It brings together students, parents, families, businesses that donate, musicians, craftsman,” he said. “It just brings everybody together in one event.”

The 16th annual Empty Bowls event is 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 11, at the Hopkins Center for the Arts, 1111 Mainstreet, Hopkins.

Attendants will be able to choose their favorite handmade soup, enjoy live music and make a donation at the event.

The Hopkins Schools community has raised $776,675 to assist those in need through the work of ResourceWest and ICA Food Shelf, Westmoreland said.

Last year, more than $80,000 was raised and Westmoreland has set her sights on the same amount this year.

As community co-chairs, Gadd and Chesney-Gadd, along with other community leaders, were invited to a Hopkins High School ceramics class last month to try their hands at creating their own bowls.

Gadd said the students are as enthusiastic as the community leaders.

“Being able to interact with the high school students, they are amazing and they gave great training,” he said. “More than that, it’s a tribute, I really think, to the Hopkins School District. This really wouldn’t be possible without the school district.”

Helping neighbors in need

Last year, ICA Food Shelf provided more than 13,000 food assists with more than 1.6 million pounds of food. It also distributed $253,000 to assist families with rent, mortgage and utilities. Roughly half of the families who use ICA have children, with one quarter being single head of household families.

In 2013, ResourceWest connected more than 10,000 West Metro residents to the resources they needed, including emergency resources (and financial support) to more than 600 families, more than 1,100 Second Harvest commodity food packages and more than 100 emergency food bags on behalf of ICA.

Though located in Hopkins, Chesney-Gadd said Empty Bowls has regional appeal and all are welcome.

“It’s not limited to just those in Minnetonka or Hopkins,” she said. “We encourage everybody to come and support their neighbors. It’s a great opportunity to see what can be done by a community to help those in the community.”

For more information, visit hopkinsSchools.org/emptybowls, facebook/hopkinsemptybowls or contact Barb Westmoreland at barb.westmoreland@hopkinsschools.org.

"Getting Ready for Empty Bowls 2014", Sun Sailor, Feb 2014

Matthew Hankey
Sun Sailor
February 15, 2014

Minnetonka City Council member and Hopkins Schools teacher Patty Acomb creates a ceramic bowl with the help of Hopkins High School students Jayme Ratliff, left, and Lauret Wilson. Feb. 5 at the high school for the 16th annual Empty Bowls fund raiser to be held next month. This year’s event is 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 11, at the Hopkins Center for the Arts, with all proceeds going to benefit ResourceWest and ICA Food Shelf.

"Food shelves in West Metro see many signs of continuing, increased need", Star Tribune, Dec 2013

GRAISON HENSLEY CHAPMAN
Star Tribune
December 17, 2013

At the height of the holiday season, shoppers are out fueling what the National Retail Federation says will be 4 percent increase in spending over last year. But the economic pickup has failed to reach many west-metro residents, according to social-service nonprofits, which still have many people coming to them hungry and looking for help this year.

In Hopkins and the towns along eastern Lake Minnetonka, the demand for food and social services has increased 131 percent since the recession, said Peg Keenan, director of Intercongregation Communities Association. As the economy has improved, she said, some of the association’s clients have found jobs, but even “if they do [find] jobs, they’re part-time or lower salaries.”

In a community with a reputation for wealth, Keenan said, the number of people the association serves is equal to the population of Excelsior. “People lose jobs here, too,” she said. “People have health crises; people divorce.”

That leaves the association to help in the cases it can, she said, including food support, help finding work, and help with rent and utility payments to stabilize a family’s budget while, for example, someone waits for a new job’s first paycheck.

To help low-income residents enjoy the holidays, the association sells certificates at Cub Foods to pay for Thanksgiving turkeys and the fixings. At the height of the recession in 2008, Keenan said, 816 households received turkeys. This Thanksgiving, 943 families needed help.

But affording a turkey or Christmas ham is the least of the worries for people without work or food, said Michelle Ness, the executive director at PRISM, a Golden Valley-based nonprofit. By the end of the year, low-income people have run out of money from the earned income tax cedit, but growing children still need new coats and gloves, and with the holiday breaks they aren’t receiving free and reduced-price lunches at school.

Parents know, said Ness, that if children “didn’t have breakfast and lunch [at school], those kids would go without food.” With PRISM’s food shelf, “we’re on the other end of that,” she said. In November, to make up for a cut to food stamps, or the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the nonprofit started allowing families to come twice a month and take more food.

All this comes before the pressure of finding money for Christmas presents. To help, PRISM runs a free holiday toy shop for registered parents as well as a resale clothing store open to the public. Ness said need for the holiday toy shop program has kept steady since 2011.

Beyond holiday programs, the need for food and help with basic needs is more pronounced. “The need continues to stay high,” Ness said. “It’s not dropping; it’s just stopped growing as much.”

That situation, she said, is no less serious than what PRISM and others faced four or five years ago. “We have people very literally coming in hungry,” she said. And when someone comes in, she said, it likely means they didn’t eat the night before, or have been skipping meals to make sure their kids have food.

North-metro need also up

North of the metro, Jerri Loughry manages the Anoka County Brotherhood Council’s food shelf, which saw a 42 percent increase from 2008 through last year. By the end of the year, her organization will have served roughly the same number of people — more than 10,000 — it did in 2012.

That growth isn’t coming from the nonprofit’s ability to serve more people, Loughry said. ACBC has never turned away residents, no matter how many have come. She said their food shelf’s increase in clients is simply a result of broader need.

“A lot of families are just a paycheck or two” — or a cut in hours at work, a broken-down car or medical emergency — “from standing in a food-shelf line.” she said.

“It doesn’t take much.”

There are some positive signs for low-income residents, she said, including that Anoka County’s need for SNAP support did not spike this year. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t need around the holidays: For each of the past two months, ACBC has seen at least 50 families more than it normally does. “The holidays bring people out,” she said.

The holidays also bring out donors, inspired by holiday spirit and tax deductions alike, and are a key part of meeting demand for year-round and holiday-specific programs.

Without exception, nonprofit leaders interviewed for this story praised donors for their committment. But Ness, the director of Golden Valley-based PRISM, said contributing to food shelves and social service nonprofits brings returns to donors, as well. It’s good for peoples’ spirits to help others, she said, and as a nonprofit, PRISM enjoys bringing “some of that joy and energy to businesses” who donate. Large donations for Alerus Mortgage and Allianz helped it offer more food to each family starting last month.

‘At home and at peace’

Whether the need for social services in the suburbs rises or falls, Tanya, a 34 year-old mother of three in Albertville, hopes for a greater awareness of the struggles lived by low-income people outside of Minneapolis and St. Paul.

Several years ago Tanya, who grew up in St. Paul, moved out of the city for a more peaceful life. But in 2010, she was found to have non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Several months later she lost her job. Not long after that, Tanya and her two sons found themselves homeless.

The closest help for her was the Salvation Army shelter in St. Cloud, where she was able to stay after two nights of sleeping in her car with her boys.

Two years later, Tanya is living in a townhouse through the Salvation Army’s Shelter Plus program. Albertville is great, she said, but it is hard to get by in the suburbs. She says it would be easy to move back to St. Paul, where she would be closer to her brother, to daily needs like groceries and gas, and to many more social services to help get her back on her feet. But she has no plans to leave.

“The community here treats us like family,” she said. “My sons are involved with the youth group up the street. My pastor is always there to help.” She also credits the Shelter Plus Care program and staff, she said, which is the only service like it in the area.

“I feel very at home and at peace being here,” she said.