Ham It Up: Second Harvest Heartland Receives Large Pork Donation
A big donation is helping Second Harvest Heartland put more food on family tables.
The Minnesota Farmers Union donated 35,000 pounds of ham — a full truckload — to Second Harvest on Monday, Sept. 22.
“The hunger is not going away — it’s still there,” said Gary Wertish, president of the Minnesota Farmers Union. “And it doesn’t matter if you’re urban, rural, metro, there’s people struggling. We just think, Farmers Union, we’re just very fortunate and very glad that we’re able to do this donation of hams to the needy.”
The hams are expected to feed about 2,000 families.
The Minnesota Farmers Union donated 35,000 pounds of ham — a full truckload — to Second Harvest on Monday, Sept. 22.
Officials with Second Harvest said they expect to see demand for holiday-related proteins like ham increase in the coming months as the holidays approach.
“At a time when there continues to be rising need, we’re seeing cuts across many of the programs that help our neighbors out,” said Lindsey Ochmanek, director of sourcing and demand planning for Second Harvest Heartland. “And so this is a really great way for us to be able to supplement what goes out into the community. Protein specifically is one of our most requested items and is one of our least donated items.”
Second Harvest distributes about 400,000 pounds of food from its Brooklyn Park warehouse each day.
