Every Meal is working with Senator Maye-Quade and Representative Becker-Finn on a Bill – SF2223/HF2546 – to provide Every Meal with a one-time cash investment to help Every Meal secure a building that will serve as our main food distribution hub.
While there is state and federal funding that support a variety of food programs, there’s a big gap in funding for programs that provide weekend food for children. No state or federal funding currently exists for this. Every Meal has been filling this weekend food gap for Minnesota children since 2013 raising and utilizing $29MM through community funding. Every Meal has seen a 48.4% increase in need from hungry kids in Minnesota through COVID and our facility has created limitation in our ability to respond.
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- Full facility cost: $8 million (approx. 60,000-85,000sft). State investment of $4 million to be matched with $4 million in philanthropic funding ($1 million secured to-date)
- Site to be in the 7-county Twin Cities metro.
- Funding will expand food warehouse footprint, food storage capacity, packaging assembly stations, volunteer experience, offices, and meeting spaces for community engagement.
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Who is Every Meal?
Every Meal is a national leader in weekend food/backpack programs and one of the largest non-profit programs of its kind in the country. Founded in 2013, Every Meal, located in Roseville, MN, is the primary resource serving the State of Minnesota working to close the meal gap for disadvantaged populations of school children on weekends, holidays, and extended breaks. The organization purchases and delivers backpack meals to children to be consumed when they are not in school. Unfortunately, no federal child nutrition programs such as the Summer Food Service Program/SFSP or the Child and Adult Care Food Program/CACFP are available to them during weekends.
Service with Dignity
We know that providing food to children experiencing hunger on weekends and holidays is most efficiently done through backpack food programs. Working with school district leadership, Every Meal coordinates volunteers and host organizations to provide hands-on delivery of backpacks to students whose families/guardians opt-in to participate. Volunteers and staff deliver food to the students on Fridays. Every Meal food bags contain 4-5 pounds of nutritious and culturally relevant food items that have been requested by families. Every Meal has developed twenty food bag menus and twelve have been culturally tailored to accommodate cultural dietary preferences. Meal bags are available on the last day of school for the extended breaks while supplies last.
Why Every Meal?
Every Meal almost entirely philanthropically funded through donations from individuals, families, businesses, faith communities, civic groups, and hunger-relief organizations. Every Meal has 39 employees, five delivery trucks, and operates out of 30,560 sq ft of leased warehouse space. The organization is led by a logistics expert with 15 years of operations expertise, a management team experienced in child nutrition, community outreach, school-based program implementation, finance, and supply chain specialization. The organization is committed to working with people that reflect all communities and actively engage and hire people with backgrounds who understand diverse cultures and lived experiences. Every Meal has a solid balance sheet, seven years of annual audited financials, a committed independent board of directors, nearly 3,000 individual donors, 419 businesses and civil group donors, and 111 faith community donors. We also apply for and receive community, corporate, and family foundation grants to support operations and programs.