Second Harvest Senior Nutrition Program Moves to Brooklyn Park
Second Harvest Looks to Raise Awareness about Brooklyn Park Senior Nutrition Program
This month marks a new beginning for Second Harvest Heartland.
Monday through Friday, seniors over 60 who meet certain income guidelines can go to the Brooklyn Park-based food bank once a month to pick up a box filled with nutritious food.
The box contains things like pasta, juice, canned fruits and veggies, and pet food for all of the animal lovers out there.
Hilary Toren is a Second Harvest volunteer.
“People say this about volunteering, and I think that is definitely true here, that you get back as much as you give,” she said.
It’s Toren’s job to hand out those food boxes for the senior nutrition program (formally known as the Commodity Supplemental Food Program), which officially launched in Brooklyn Park on June 1.
“We’re all in this together, we’re working together,” Toren said. “And also it’s a fun thing to do.”
The program was originally based in Maplewood, serving about 1,500 seniors a month since 2004.
Second Harvest volunteer Hilary Toren helps load a box of food into a woman’s car.
“With the boomer generation aging into that 60-plus category, the need for serving seniors is really increasing,” said Taylor Day, Second Harvest’s senior hunger programs manager.
But at the end of May, Second Harvest decided to close its Maplewood location and transition all of its operations to its Brooklyn Park warehouse along Winnetka Avenue.
‘There’s more seniors out there’
Word hasn’t gotten out just yet.
“Right now we’re probably serving close to 15-20 folks a day through a combination of in-person and also delivery options,” Day said. “But we know that there’s more seniors out there.”
More seniors that the staff and volunteers in Brooklyn Park are eager to serve.
“It’s wonderful,” said a program participant named Irina. “It’s a great program. It helps people very much.”
See Also: Second Harvest Heartland Sees Big Need for Volunteers
