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Merrick Community Services’ March food drive can use
your help
Submitted by admin on Tue, 04/04/2017 - 1:13pm
http://eastsidereviewnews.com/articles/2017/04/04/merrick-community-services%E2%80%99-march-food-...4/5/2017
Merrick Community Services’ March food drive can use your help | Lillie Suburban Newspapers -Lillie...Page 2 of 8
Merrick Community Services has helped people in
need on the East Side of St. Paul for more than a
century.
The nonprofit agency’s most widely used services
offer assistance with employment, family services,
senior and youth programs, and food programs
including the Woodland Hills food shelf, Meals on
Wheels, and mobile, culturally-specific food banks.
“We’re a multi-service agency,” says Brandon
(/articles/2017/04/04/merrick-community-services%E2%80%99-march-food-
Griffin, director of resource development at Merrick.
drive-can-use-your-help)
“So when someone comes in for an emergency
need, such as to our food shelf, they need food right
away so we help them. But if they’re unemployed,
Merrick volunteer, Randy, sorts a colorful array of donated fresh-food
we’re also able to refer them to our employment
items.
services where we help them gain the credentials to
find a job.”
Merrick also helps low-wage workers and
unemployed individuals learn new job skills, with the
goal of earning a livable wage in order to have a
sustainable lifestyle.
Merrick opens its Woodland Hills food shelf three
times a week and serves 50 to 60 needy families
from Maplewood and the East Side. Last year
Merrick’s food programs served over 12,000
households, giving out more than 700,000 pounds
of food.
March is an important month for safety net agencies
like Merrick, because that’s when the Minnesota
FoodShare campaign takes place. Many local
churches, schools and businesses find ways to
raise donations for Merrick’s big March food drive
every year, and extra volunteers are needed to help
process and stock the influx of food and non-food
essentials.
Businesses also find unique and creative ways to
get involved. AgriBank, for example, offers
employees the option to wear jeans on Fridays if
they make a $5 donation to the Merrick food shelf.
3M brings in volunteers for bagging fundraisers at
Cub Foods, and a local salon has donated hair
products to the food shelf during March, as well as
foot care kits for seniors.
http://eastsidereviewnews.com/articles/2017/04/04/merrick-community-services%E2%80%99-march-food-...4/5/2017
Merrick Community Services’ March food drive can use your help | Lillie Suburban Newspapers -Lillie...Page 3 of 8
(/articles/2017/04/04/merrick-community-services%E2%80%99-march-food-“There are so many innovative ways that clubs,
drive-can-use-your-help)businesses and organization can get involved,”
Griffin says. “The only way we are able to raise
money is with our partnerships in the community;
Merrick Senior Participant, Joyce, hugging a Meals on Wheels
it’s really a community effort to do this.”
volunteer.
Griffin adds, “Hunger can affect anyone, even your
neighbors, and you may not even be aware that
they don’t have access to affordable, nutritious food.”
Later this year Merrick will be moving into a new, permanent home on the Gustavus Adolphus Lutheran Church campus,
located at Arcade Street and Larpenteur Avenue.
The new site will quadruple the social service agency’s space and house programming, with a computer lab, classrooms, gym
activities, meeting rooms, administrative offices and an expanded Meals on Wheels and a new food shelf to complement the
Woodland Hills food pantry.
The Merrick staff expect to settle into the 15,000-square-foot space after renovation work is completed in late summer.
Small donations go a long
way ...
Here’s what your donations
can do for
someone in need:
• $5 will feed a senior for a day
• $20 will purchase a box of fresh
vegetables (potatoes, onions,
carrots, etc.)
• $25 will feed a senior Meals on
Wheels participant for a week
• $50 will provide emergency
food supplements to five people
through our food shelf
• $1,000 will feed a senior citizen
for an entire year
Volunteers needed ...
Merrick Food Shelf can always
use volunteers to help with
restocking, distribution, intake,
data entry, and that’s especially
http://eastsidereviewnews.com/articles/2017/04/04/merrick-community-services%E2%80%99-march-food-...4/5/2017
Merrick Community Services’ March food drive can use your help | Lillie Suburban Newspapers -Lillie...Page 4 of 8
true in March, when the
statewide Minnesota FoodShare
campaign takes place.
Volunteer shifts are very flexible
to fit the schedule of anyone
interested in helping with these
tasks. To learn more about
volunteer opportunities, contact
Samantha Soriano at 651-287-
2088 or
ssoriano@merricks.org
(mailto:ssoriano@merricks.org).
How businesses can assist
the
annual food drive ...
• Employee incentives (jeans
day, etc.)
• Friendly competition between
departments
• Skip lunch for hunger
• Donation jar at cash register
• Donate portion of sales for a
day
http://eastsidereviewnews.com/articles/2017/04/04/merrick-community-services%E2%80%99-march-food-...4/5/2017
Merrick Community Services’ March food drive can use your help | Lillie Suburban Newspapers -Lillie...Page 5 of 8
(https://merrickcs.org/)
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http://eastsidereviewnews.com/articles/2017/04/04/merrick-community-services%E2%80%99-march-food-...4/5/2017