Minnesota FoodShare

March Campaign Drive

Date/Time: Bring your food and/or cash donations to your local food shelf prior to April 1, 2011.  

Location: Your local food shelf

March is Minnesota Food Share month. Each March since 1982, Minnesota FoodShare has directed the March Campaign, the largest food drive in the state which restocks 300 food shelves across Minnesota. This campaign recruits thousands of congregations, companies, schools and civic groups to run local food and fund drives to aid in the effort; it is the largest food and fund drive for food shelves in the state of Minnesota. You can collect food or cash donations as a family and donate them to your local food shelf or you can recruit family, friends, neighbors, coworkers, or individuals from your faith community or civic group to help organize a larger food and/or donation drive.

Ages: Your entire family can participate

Time Commitment: Flexible

Contact: Bring donations to your local food shelf. If you are interested in organizing a March Campaign, Minnesota FoodShare can help. There is a wealth of resources available online at www.gmcc.org/foodshare/marchcampaign or you can call 1-888-315-7390.

Food Packing

Feed My Starving Children (FMSC)

Date/Time:  Multiple dates, see website registration page http://bit.ly/dNBLar

Location: FMSC has MN packing locations in Chanhassen, Chaska and Eagan.

Feed My Starving Children is a non-profit Christian organization committed to feeding hungry children. The approach is simple: children and adults hand-pack meals formulated specially for starving children, and they ship the meals to nearly 70 countries around the world. Packaged in small pouches, this easy-to-prepare food blend has won rave reviews all over the world. While the formula was designed to save the lives of severely malnourished and starving children, the ingredients also improve the health, growth and physical well-being of children who are no longer in immediate danger of starvation.. A single bag of food-which provides meals for six children-costs around $1.44 to produce, and 94% of all donations to FMSC goes directly toward the food program.

Ages: The minimum age to volunteer at FMSC is 5 years old. Additional FMSC age requirements can be found at http://bit.ly/hnleuJ

Contact: FMSC has an online volunteer registration system. To volunteer, visit http://bit.ly/dNBLar

For more information about FMSC visit fmsc.org

Let's JAM for a Cure!

2011 Juvenile Arthritis March

Date/Time: March 5 2011; registration begins at 7:00am and goes until the march starts at 8:15 am

Location: Mall of America- third floor, food court

The Juvenile Arthritis March (JAM) is the Arthritis Foundation North Central Chapter's annual event that raises awareness and funds to fight juvenile arthritis. The Juvenile Arthritis March kicks off in March to fund arthritis research, health education and government advocacy initiatives.  It is a tremendous opportunity to help improve the lives of the 46 million men and women, and the 300,000 children in the United States with arthritis. Join in the JAM and know you're making a difference by raising funds to support Arthritis Foundation research, public health, and public policy efforts to improve the lives of people living with arthritis. People with juvenile arthritis wear a colored JAM T-shirt to signify their action in taking control of their condition. The event features a short walk around the Mall of America, with arthritis information and activities for the entire family. There is also a Kid's Zone that includes a scavenger hunt, face painting and prizes,  as well as fun, festivities, and free health information.

Ages: All ages can participate

Time Commitment: a few hours

Contact:  Visit the Arthritis Walk website at http://jam2011.kintera.org/ or call (651) 229-5371 for more information or email Liz at etruax@arthritis.org 

Snail Lake Regional Park Restoration Event

Great River Greening

Date/Time: Saturday, March 26, 8:30am-12:30pm

Location: Snail Lake Regional Park, Shoreview, MN

Let's keep our urban areas beautiful! Great River Greening needs 200 volunteers to haul brush such as buckthorn and other non-savanna tree species in order to restore overgrown woodlands to native oak savanna. Oak savanna and prairie restoration are vital to ensure that our urban communities remain beautiful for many years to come. Snail Lake Regional Park is one of the important natural spaces in this highly developed area. This park is home to oak woodlands, floating vegetative mats on Grass Lake, wetlands, and grasslands that provide habitat to an assortment of creatures including deer, fox, herons, egrets, and waterfowl. These habitats are being invaded by invasive plants, and we need to stop them!

Ages: Minimum age is 6

Time Commitment: A few hours

Contact: Mark Turbak at 651-665-9500, ext. 11 or http://www.greatrivergreening.org/

Monday Dinner at St Stephen's Shelter

HandsOn Twin Cities Impact Now

Date/Time: Monday, March 21, 6-8pm

Join HandsOn Twin Cities to prepare and share a family-style meal with guests of St. Stephen's Shelter. Volunteers will cook and serve a meal to 45 men who are experiencing homelessness and mingle and eat with the guests. Volunteers are asked (but not required) to bring an ingredient to contribute to the meal. The Project Coordinator will communicate what ingredients are needed before the project. St. Stephen's Shelter offers sober shelter to 45 adult men every night. Their comprehensive shelter program includes facilities such as laundry and showers, as well as an employment program and intensive advocacy to help guests attain housing.

Ages: Volunteers as young as 5 are welcome with adult supervision or 16 without. To register a volunteer under 16, call 612-379-4900. All volunteers under 18 must bring a youth waiver signed by a parent/guardian.

Contact: To register for this opportunity, email David Heitzman via HandsOn Twin Cities Impact Now at http://bit.ly/gR4SQl. Full volunteer opportunity address and directions will be sent to you by e-mail after you sign up. 

Peace Dinner

Hands On Twin Cities Impact Now

Date/Time: Tuesday, March 22, 5:45-8:30pm

Be a part of an event that brings people of all backgrounds together! Each month, the Liemandt Foundation hosts a Peace Dinner (family style dinner + activities) for families and youth in North Minneapolis. The event creates a time and place conducive to mutual relationship building, where all voices can be heard, community and family treasures can be recognized and celebrated, and genuine needs can be served. Volunteers will engage in various roles including greeting guests, helping with nametag and book tables, assisting with a craft for the children, and supervising safe play in the gym. This is a participatory and social volunteer opportunity.  Volunteers are invited to be part of the community, participate in the activities, and socialize with the families in attendance while sharing a meal.

Ages Volunteers as young as 6 are welcome with adult supervision or 15 without. To register a volunteer under 18, call 612-379-4900.  All volunteers under 18 must bring a youth waiver signed by a parent/guardian.

Time Commitment: 2.75 hours

Contact: For further information about this opportunity visit http://bit.ly/hBdjyK or Hands on Twin Cities, 612-379-4900,www.handsontwincities.org. Full opportunity address and directions will be sent to you by e-mail after you sign up.