New Ulm Area Emergency Food Shelf receives grant from Second Harvest Heartland and Midwest Dairy for milk cooler

NEW ULM — Midwest Dairy provided $95,000 in grant funding that enabled Second Harvest Heartland to purchase dairy coolers for 45 food shelves and shelters throughout Minnesota. The New Ulm Area Emergency Food Shelf received an Arctic Air AR49 54-in. Two Section Solid Door Reach-in Refrigerator – 49 cu. ft. which has increased our capacity to provide families in our community with additional fresh milk and other dairy items. The grant was intended to support food shelves and shelters in the increased distribution of cow’s milk and other nutritious dairy products that are in high demand.

“Second Harvest Heartland was thrilled to receive this grant to help agency partners safely distribute nutritious and highly sought-after dairy products to families experiencing hunger,” said Pat Pearson, Director of Agency Relations, Second Harvest Heartland. “We are immensely grateful for partners like Midwest Dairy, who work with us to help us provide generous food contributions to the communities we serve.”

The grant covered both the cost of the refrigerator and delivery. Food shelves and shelters were able to choose from a selection of four different types of coolers to best meet the needs of their individual programs. Most of the refrigerators chosen featured glass doors to allow food shelf clients to view the products in abundance and take what they need.

In addition to Midwest Dairy, US Foods and Arctic Air provided generous support in the form of reduced pricing and delivery of the coolers to food shelves. Midwest Dairy™ represents 7,000 dairy farm families and works on their behalf to build dairy demand by inspiring consumer confidence in our products and production practices.

On any given day, one in 11 Minnesotans does not know where their next meal is coming from: kids come home to an empty fridge and seniors skip meals to pay for their medications. In so many ways, partners like Midwest Dairy make a transformational impact on our mission to end hunger.

In the past year the New Ulm Area Emergency Food Shelf served 6,970 people from the cities of New Ulm, Courtland, Lafayette, Hanska, Searles, and Essig.

“Next year we are planning to change our distribution method to give our friends in need more choices in the food that they receive” said Brad Kirk, Executive Director, New Ulm Area Emergency Food Shelf. “This new refrigerator will allow us to carry more fresh milk and other dairy products to meet their needs.”

Community Friends Thanksgiving Dinner

The 2019 New Ulm Community Friends Thanksgiving Dinner is in the books. This year we ran out of squash and cranberries and nearly out of turkey! We had so many wonderful people from all over the local area come and dine with us eating a traditional Thanksgiving meal. We are still counting but believe we served close to 900 people including take outs and home deliveries. We had many compliments on the turkey and dressing again this year.

We especially wanted to take a moment to thank all of our volunteers that make this event possible. Every year it takes over 230 volunteers to make this event happen. From the dishwashers, servers, carvers, potato peelers, cooks, pie cutters, delivery people and everyone else worked so hard. Some worked for a hour or two and others helped over both days. We had a new kitchen supervisor this year who was so amazed at how we operated calling us a “fine oiled machine.” This is because so many of our volunteers come back year after year and just know what to do. We try to thank each volunteer but we surly miss some every year, so please know that we appreciate your help and thank you for the time you spent making the event such a success. Holiday blessings to each of you.

New Ulm Community Thanksgiving Dinner Committee

Les Schultz

Mary Ellen Schanus

Josh Luneburg

Lynn Rowley