Operational Upgrades Powered by Link Logistics
Boosting Efficiency, Safety, and Quality Control
Thanks to the Link Logistics Community Grants Program, Every Meal has been able to make operational upgrades that are boosting efficiency, safety, and quality control. Link’s generous $152,000 grant has enabled us to improve critical infrastructure and streamline processes, ensuring we can better serve children for years to come.
Infrastructure Improvements for Greater Impact
Grant funds from Link Logistics have allowed us to make several key infrastructure improvements to our building and operations. Here’s how the funds were utilized:
- Delivery Carts
- What we purchased: 100 new custom-made delivery carts to replace damaged ones.
- Impact: Some of the schools we serve cannot accommodate the size of our food pallets, so the custom-made carts help simplify the delivery of our food to those schools.
- Push Carts
- What we purchased: 100 new push carts to replace damaged ones.
- Impact: These carts are essential for food bag distributions at schools. They enable volunteers to carry food bags down hallways as they place them in participating students’ backpacks, saving time walking back-and-forth throughout the school.
- Forklift
- What we purchased: New forklift with a higher weight capacity
- Impact: Our previous forklift couldn’t handle the weight of heavy food pallets, so the new one has both improved efficiency and enhanced safety.
- Top/Bottom Tape Machines
- What we purchased: New top/bottom tape machines with accompanying gravity conveyors and rollers
- Impact: These machines have transformed our packing floor by introducing a new, more efficient workflow for packing food bags. This provides improved quality control to ensure that food boxes are properly labeled and securely sealed, in turn saving costs. This also guarantees that students receive the right food items in their bags week after week.
- Dock Doors and Levelers
- What we purchased: New dock doors and levelers
- Impact: These have improved warehouse and food safety when loading and unloading food into and out of our warehouse.
Making Every Dollar Count
The improvements funded by this grant are not only providing immediate benefits; they’re setting us up for long-term impact. By increasing efficiency and reducing costs, we’re able to stretch every donation further and allocate more resources directly to our mission. The upgrades also mean kids are getting packaged and canned food that’s in good shape and exactly what they expect.
Help Us Build Connections
The Link Logistics Community Grants Program was made possible thanks to the nomination from a Link employee. Many grants and corporate giving programs have similar nomination processes. If you’re an employee of a company with a philanthropic focus, consider nominating Every Meal for your grant or giving programs. Your advocacy helps power our mission of providing good food to kids right here in Minnesota facing food insecurity.
This grant has already made a transformative difference in our operations and our ability to serve the community, both short-term and long-term. We’re deeply grateful to Link Logistics and their employee who championed our cause. Together, we’re changing the story of child hunger in Minnesota.