Organization fighting hunger in northern Minnesota to open new food bank in Duluth

NINA MOINI: Tomorrow Second Harvest Northland is celebrating the completion of its first phase of a newly renovated food bank in Duluth. Second Harvest Northland serves 15 counties in Northern Minnesota and Northwestern Wisconsin, in an area spanning more than 27,000 square miles, and they first identified the need for a larger facility back in 2019. So through a fundraising program called Nourish the Northland, they're working to raise $20 million to revitalize the food bank.

So joining me now to talk about the new facility and what's next for the food bank is Shaye Morris, the president and CEO of Second Harvest Northland, Thank you so much for being here with us today, Shaye.

SHAYE MORRIS: Thank you for having me.

NINA MOINI: Well, this sounds like a really exciting time for all of you. I'm curious about just the need in your area and if you could briefly describe how it has grown or changed in recent years.

SHAYE MORRIS: Certainly, probably, many parts of the state, we've seen this postpandemic influx of need. We especially in Northern Minnesota serve a lot of rural communities. So we've seen that grow with the change in the pandemic, benefits that were available to people and to organizations like ours.

So the charitable relief sector, food banks, food shelves have really seen demand increase. And for our region, year over year, we've seen as much as a 30% to 40% increase in utilization of our region's food shelves.

NINA MOINI: That is very significant. Could you tell me about then how Nourish the Northland came to be as part of trying to find a solution?

SHAYE MORRIS: Yeah. So we identified in 2019 that we'd outgrown our facility that we'd been in for 20 years, but with the pandemic, we had to put the plans on hold because it wasn't the right time to be trying to find a new facility and raise funds. But we did see the pandemic really exasperate that need. So we located this beautiful new facility in Duluth, which was essentially turnkey and will now allow us to really think about the food bank of the future.

So for us, really the primary importance of this new facility is that it's going to increase the amount and variety of fresh and perishable food available to our neighbors experiencing hunger. So we're really excited about what is to come.

NINA MOINI: So more storage, more ability to reach more people. Could you tell me how much money you raised so far, talking about that $20 million number? How much do you still need to raise and where are you looking for that?

SHAYE MORRIS: It is a big number, especially for Northern Minnesota. I'll say that we are close to having raised 11.1 million of our $20 million goal. Initially, phase 1 was to build on a 13,600 square foot freezer cooler, which increased our capacity for fresh and perishable food to about 210%, but that was a cost of $4.2 million.

So it just tells you the sheer scope and scale of 86,000 square foot facility in Northern Minnesota. So a lot of the support to date has come from private foundations, from corporations, from individuals. So tomorrow really kicks off the public phase, we've been in the silent phase, where we'll secure more support.

One exciting grant opportunity that we had was from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. We secured $1 million gift to divert food from our state's landfills and waste streams. So that's really what food banks do and do a really good job of. So that was a significant contribution for Northern Minnesota.

NINA MOINI: Sure. And could you talk a little bit, Shaye, for people who might not understand the relationship between the different food banks? I understand there are six food banks, six that operate in the state of Minnesota, but there's also food shelves. So how does that work? Could you summarize it for us?

SHAYE MORRIS: Of course. So Second Harvest Northland is one of six food banks that serve Minnesota counties. And primary work that we do in food banking is to access and distribute nationally and regionally donated and purchased product for area food shelves, on site meal programs, and we have partnerships with tribal organizations. So if you picture like a wholesale retail model, we're a wholesaler primarily of donated goods.

Second Harvest Northland is the organization who supports, again, 11 counties in Northeastern Minnesota and for Northwestern Wisconsin. And each of our individual food banks have assigned counties. So there's no overlap or duplication, we're all unique and independent nonprofit organizations.

Again, and then we all work within our regions with our area food shelves. So for an example, we have 60 area food shelves in Northern Minnesota in Northwestern Wisconsin that we work with to make sure that they're supplied with product. And interesting to note, in our region, as much as 90% of the food distributed in local communities by food shelves comes from Second Harvest Northland.

So we really provide an important supply of food to communities like Ely or Brainerd or Hurley, Wisconsin, where there could be gaps in available product.

NINA MOINI: I mean, six is not a ton when you consider what 87 counties in the state. And so it's really probably a sprawling area for a lot of these places. But could you break down a little bit more how food insecurity in Northern Minnesota, a more rural areas, how it differs? Is it that people literally can't get to a food shelf because there aren't ones around them, or what are some of the unique challenges there?

SHAYE MORRIS: That is unique. Rural communities, again, much more difficult to access food. Food shelves could be a 30 to 60 minute drive to find your nearest food shelf. Some of our small rural food shelves are operated by volunteers.

Those food shelves might be open once or twice a month, which could vary by a larger food shelf in an urban area, who have paid staff and volunteers. So that's a challenge that we have in Northern Minnesota. You can imagine the economy in rural communities, it looks a lot differently. Who are the major employers in small communities in rural Minnesota? So food access is really important.

So in addition to our work as a food bank where we supply local food shelves, we also operate mobile food pantry programs where we're essentially bringing food into especially rural communities where there's a high level of need and low food resources to make sure that people in those communities have access. So we operate about 25 regional mobile food pantry programs too to make sure that there is adequate food access.

NINA MOINI: Such a great idea. I love that. So you're raising the private funds and relying on the public as well to step up and give what they can. But I'm sure you're also going to be at the State Capitol talking with lawmakers.

I know there are talks at the federal level about maybe cuts to food aid programs. What are you keeping your eye on right now? What would be helpful for you for lawmakers to do for hunger?

SHAYE MORRIS: Certainly we're hoping for a bonding bill. We obviously are requesting some funds for phase 2 of this facility. So that's really important. And it's really important to note that our six food banks do not have allocated support to operate. So we truly operate on pure charitable contributions. But we do have bills that are introduced to make sure that we can supply fresh and perishable food to neighbors in our communities, as well as to our food shelf partners.

So that's something that's on the docket right now is that we really need support, again, for our area food shelves and for the food banks to make sure that we can provide that really good and nutritious food and local communities. We also receive funding, which supports milk distribution and that really good Minnesota based dairy and protein products. So we're just really grateful for the support that we get as food banks and as hunger relief programs throughout the state of Minnesota. We're really fortunate in this state.

NINA MOINI: Well, before I let you go, Shaye, we know we talked about lawmakers and private donors, it's a tough time right now for a lot of Minnesotans, generally, to where they might not be thinking as much about giving or donating. What do you recommend that individuals do within their community to try to step up and help their neighbors who might be experiencing hunger?

SHAYE MORRIS: Certainly funds go a long way because, again, we're accessing product to distribute. So whether that's for your local food bank, your local food shelf, I always say it's not an either/or, it's a both food banks. Support local communities, but food shelves operate in local communities, so that's really important. We're always looking for volunteers to help with our programs.

Second Harvest Northland relies on about 1,200 volunteers that fulfill about 14 full time positions, and we have a staff of only 30. So volunteerism is really important to our work. Advocating, again, for federal programs that support the work that we're doing and the neighbors facing hunger is super important. So those are great ways that people can be involved in hunger relief in Minnesota or Wisconsin.

NINA MOINI: Great. So you can also give your time if you can't give much else right now. Shaye, thank you so much for your work and for joining us this afternoon.

SHAYE MORRIS: Thank you so much for having me.

NINA MOINI: And congratulations on the new renovation. That was Shaye Morris, CEO of Second Harvest Northland.