With the Need For Assistance Rising, Two Moving Companies Helped a Minnesota Food Bank Stay Open

Second Harvest Heartland, a food bank that serves Minnesota's Twin Cities and the surrounding area, was facing a dilemma. The food bank had been preparing to move to a new warehouse at the end of March, and they had planned to stop operations for a week while they transported all of their supplies to the new location. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, and their partner agencies started requesting 2-3x as much food as they normally would, they knew they couldn't afford to close their doors for a day, let alone a week.

Move For Hunger had already been communicating regularly with Second Harvest to prepare for this year's Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive, and Paul Jacobs, the food bank's Transportation Director, asked if any of our local partners would be able to help. We connected them with Beltmann Relocation Group of Minneapolis/St. Paul, a North American Van Lines agent, and AAA Movers, who collectively spent 2 days moving food to the new warehouse. Because of their help, the food bank was able to stay open and continue providing assistance to the increasing number of food insecure residents in the region.

Food banks across the United States are seeing an unprecedented demand for their services as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and the supply of food is shrinking. Meanwhile, social distancing has made the logistics of distributing food much more difficult. Jacobs said that, despite these challenges, Second Harvest Heartland is doing whatever they can to make sure no one goes hungry.

"Our entire team is working harder than every before," Jacobs said. "Many of our employees, like our drivers, are on the front line of the pandemic response. We’re getting creative, as the virus doesn’t allow long lines of people waiting for food."

There were more than 430,000 food insecure people in the region served by Second Harvest Heartland before the pandemic hit, and that number has been steadily increasing over the past month. Thank you so much to Beltmann Relocation and AAA Movers for helping the food bank remain operational during this extraordinary crisis.

The COVID-19 Pandemic has left a massive economic impact and has drastically increase the need for emergency food assistance nationwide. Move For Hunger is actively searching for ways to meet the demand, but we're going to need your help.

If you can, please consider making a donation to Move For Hunger. With your support, we'll be able to rapidly respond and mobilize our network in communities across the United States and Canada.