Summer Greetings from NCFA
Dear Friends and Supporters,
Happy summer! We hope that all of you are staying safe and healthy, and finding positive ways to engage in this beautiful season. Here at NCFA, we’re working hard to meet the increased need for food by expanding our foodshare and gardening programs. If you are able, please consider becoming a sustainer by pledging a monthly tax-deductible donation (see more on this at the bottom of this newsletter.) Thank you so much for your continued support.
In Solidarity for a Better World,
The Workers of NCFA
Program Updates
Foodshare
Gabs taking a donation for the RLM Art Studio/Peace Coffee community pantry.
Every weekday, NCFA responds to local needs for food support, which are definitely increasing due to COVID-19 and the recent destruction of grocery stores during the uprising. Therefore, we appointed a second foodshare coordinator; Alison is now joining Nick in managing the program. NCFA worker Mae also started moving surplus food every week with (what is usually) our canvass van. All three are working hard to provide free produce to our regular partners as well as adding drop-offs to emergent food shelves across Minneapolis and Saint Paul. Thanks to their efforts, we are moving more food than ever before!
Our foodshare coordinator, Alison, connected with staff at other food recovery organizations through the new formation of a Twin Cities food rescue collective meet-up. Through this network, we developed the beginnings of a partnership with Dream of Wild Health Farm and the gleaning program at The Food Group. This August, we will help coordinate volunteer gleaners to harvest excess produce and deliver this food to Native and Indigenous community members. If you are interested in becoming a volunteer gleaner with this program, please sign up for NCFA’s volunteer list by clicking the button below.
Free produce for weekly distribution at the Horn Towers garden.
This year, we are bringing together our foodshare and garden programs at Horn Towers Public Housing, where we now manage another farm-style community garden, and also coordinate weekly, outdoor, free food distributions. If you are interested in volunteering on one of our distribution days, please sign up here:
Garden
Prospective worker and garden coordinator Haakon with beds he built at the Horn Towers garden.
This year, we began management of a community garden at Horn Towers. This large garden site was stewarded by Youth Farm for decades. In 2019, Youth Farm discontinued their programs in South Minneapolis, and we were pleased to partner with the Minneapolis Public Housing Authority in order to continue to ensure the flourishing of this great space. We also connected with community members who grew up gardening there, including prospective worker and garden coordinator Haakon. Among many other things, Haakon built raised beds for NCFA, which we hope will make gardening more accessible for residents next season.
Volunteers Kyle and Khin helping wash veggies at the North Minneapolis garden.
Our North Minneapolis garden is bigger than ever, boasting 16 circular beds from the Garden in a Box Program, and 16 rectangular wooden beds built by NCFA workers and board members. These beds produced many pounds of veggies, fruits, roots, and herbs so far this season, and are currently growing strawberries, tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, squash, cucumbers, and zucchini. All this food is free for community members to harvest; excess produce is collected by garden coordinator Maria with the help of volunteers and donated to local food shelves. The majority of this freshly picked produce goes directly to the church across the street, which holds food distributions every other week.
We’re holding workdays most Saturday mornings with volunteers from the neighborhood and the greater Twin Cities region. If you’re interested in helping with garden tasks, please contact garden@NCFA-MN.org for more information. Alternatively, sign up to our volunteer list by clicking the button below!
Community Meals
Volunteers Puck and Anne serving food at House of Charity.
Community meals coordinator Alison organized several successful volunteer days serving food with the House of Charity Food Center. However, COVID-19 threw a wrench in the plans, and this program is now on hold. We plan to resume community meals when we determine it is safe to do so. Please email meals@NCFA-MN.org or click the button below to stay up-to-date on volunteer opportunities. Thank you for your interest!
We are also noticing the emergence of many new community groups which are stepping up to cook for their neighbors and for the encampments. Our foodshare program is looking to reach out to more groups that cook within a framework of mutual aid and community care. Please contact meals@NCFA-MN.org if you know of a group that would benefit from receiving food donations from NCFA.
Canvass
We suspended door-to-door canvassing at the end of March to protect our workers and the community from COVID-19. However, we are still operating our phone canvass, which continues to be instrumental in supplementing our budget. Thank you so much to everyone who supported us when we gave you a ring!
Currently, we are looking at our options for restarting door-to-door canvassing in August. We are developing a plan to keep everyone safe, including limiting crew size, wearing facial coverings, and maintaining a distance of at least six feet whenever possible. We look forward to seeing you at the door again, and sincerely hope you are able to contribute to keep our food distributions active and growing!
Other Updates
Grants
The Otto Bremer Trust granted NCFA $5,000 in COVID emergency funds. This money is going toward our general operating expenses, and helping sustain our functions during this time of reduced revenue. We are sincerely grateful for their support.
A huge thank you to Hunger Solutions for awarding NCFA grants of $5,000 and $12,000! The $5,000 grant is for COVID-19 emergency food relief, and is funding the expansion of our community garden in South Minneapolis and the associated produce distribution at that site. The $12,000 is a Transportation Minnesota Food Shelf Program COVID-19 Grant. We are using that money for vehicle expenses associated with foodshare, as well as making purchases of food for donation, to supplement the food we receive for free.
Lakewinds Food Co-op chose us as one of the recipients for their 2020 community giving round up! We are honored by their support and look forward to sustaining our programming with the donation money. The fundraiser will take place in October, so if you shop at Lakewinds, be sure to round up at the register that month to support NCFA!
Meet Our New Worker!
Catherine
Admin Coordinator
We’re excited to welcome Catherine as a new admin coordinator. She is a number nerd and is looking forward to helping NCFA with finances. When she's not reviewing reconciliations or working at her other job, she likes hiking, learning (forgetting about, and relearning) about wild edibles, and hanging out with her friends.
Give to NCFA to Support Food Justice
NCFA is a small nonprofit that depends on the generosity of the community to share healthy food with people who are otherwise denied access. With your help, we provide fresh food to thousands of people every week. We are currently expanding our foodshare and garden programs—despite reductions in revenue due to the loss of field canvass—and we need your help to sustain this level of work! Please give what you can to help provide our neighbors with abundant access to healthy foods.
We are asking you to become a sustaining donor by pledging a monthly donation to NCFA. This small act would increase our expected monthly income and help us budget, plan, and execute our programs to their fullest potential.
Making a monthly donation is easy! Simply click the button below, select the “monthly” tab, and choose a preselected amount, or enter a custom amount in the box. Then enter your information. An account is automatically created for you, through which you can edit your donation at any time.
Thank you so much for supporting food justice and community building work in the Twin Cities!