With support from our generous donors, Open Your Heart provided Grace Lutheran Church with funding towards additional cooler and freezer space to store more food and increase their capacity of producing meals. At Grace Lutheran Church they strive to feed our neighbors. They’ve had a long-lasting tradition of holding some great events at the church centered around food. Over the
last year and a half during the Covid-19 pandemic, they’ve sought out new opportunities to serve the community and surrounding area. They have partnered with the South Central Minnesota Food Recovery Program and have been providing products and lean proteins to many people in need in the BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) and Low-Income families. As a church, they’ve helped distribute more than 4,000 pounds of food. They have made and distributed more than 150 family-sized dinners – enough to provide over 800 meals. Through the help of a food recovery program that recovers food that otherwise would go to waste and go into landfills or compost, they help save and package for redistribution. 2,000 pounds of green peppers and bananas along with 1,600 pounds of pulled chicken were taken to a food shelf in Minneapolis after civil unrest made it hard for families to get food in June of 2020. 320 whole chickens were cooked and made their way to the unhoused and tent cities through the Humanity Project. Grace Lutheran Church is excited to continue its work in these efforts to feed people in need in our community and excited to see how their ministry can continue to expand farther and farther. Through the grant received from Open Your Heart to the Hungry and Homeless, it will make it easier to prepare, store and distribute meals to those in need. Thank you Grace Lutheran Church for everything you do!