April 15, 2020
Cargill joins relief programme for food-insecure families during COVID-19 crisis
The Cargill Foundation has extended its support to the Minnesota Central Kitchen in its mission to tackle hunger and layoffs brought on by COVID-19. On Monday, April 13, Cargill's headquarters cafeteria opened its door to the Minnesota Central Kitchen, providing additional kitchen space as well as employment opportunities and 4,000 meals each day for Minnesotans, particularly those who are food-insecure in the Twin Cities community.
The Cargill Foundation said it is also contributing $1 million to add a distribution site in North Minneapolis with Appetite for Change and to support the production of 120,000 meals across all of Minnesota Central Kitchen's sites.
"At Cargill, we believe our state's nonprofits and hospitality professionals can continue to respond to the growing need for food assistance in our community and are proud to join them in this relief for food-insecure children and families in Minnesota", said Katie Clark Sieben, Cargill Foundation director.
"It is humbling to see our NGO, restaurant and business communities rally together and mobilise quickly to provide nutritious food and employment opportunities".
Minnesota Central Kitchen brings together restaurants, caterers and hunger-fighting organisations to tackle hunger and layoffs brought on by the coronavirus. The effort is led by Second Harvest Heartland with core partners including Chowgirls Catering and Loaves & Fishes.
The restaurants provide the kitchen space, staff, supplies and food; Second Harvest Heartland coordinates logistics; Loaves & Fishes and Appetite for Change distribute the to-go meals to Minnesotans free of charge at its more than 30 locations across the state; and companies like Cargill fund the operation and provide additional kitchen space.
"The Cargill Foundation's support of Minnesota Central Kitchen is a perfect example of the kind of powerful partnerships we need right now. We're grateful for Cargill's longstanding backing and we're not surprised that they've stepped forward, once again, when we need the community to come together like never before", said Allison O'Toole, CEO of Second Harvest Heartland.
