Help Our Award Winning Program Grow!
November 13th is Give to the Max Day in Minnesota and your support is needed to help our award winning Fruits of the City program continue to grow! You can visit The Minnesota Project’s GiveMN page to schedule your Give to the Max Day donation today.
The Minnesota Project’s Fruits of the City program has continued to grow as a resource for Minnesota food shelves and the families they serve. Since 2009, the program has harvested and delivered over 280,000 pounds of fruit to food shelves throughout the state.
Our successes have not gone unnoticed. This year, The Minnesota Project was recognized at the 20th Annual Environmental Initiative Awards when we received the Food Stewardship award for our Fruits of the City program. This awards program annually honors innovative projects that have achieved extraordinary environmental results by harnessing the power of partnership.
The Fruits of the City program addresses the lack of access to fresh, healthy fruit for the economically disenfranchised by coordinating teams of volunteers and fruit tree owners to deliver thousands of pounds of fresh fruit to local food shelves and food banks.
“The Minnesota Project and their partners have worked together on a project that is creating a better environment for all Minnesotans,” said Mike Harley, executive director of Environmental Initiative. “We are grateful for their passion and support of our belief that by working together, we can achieve great things.”
“With the help of over 500 volunteers in 2013, the program collected and donated a record 128,000 pounds of fruit that was shared with hungry families throughout the region” notes Jared Walhowe, coordinator of the Fruits of the City program. “None of this would be possible without the generosity of our registered fruit tree owners, our supporters and our dedicated volunteers who join us for harvesting events.”
Fruit tree owners and volunteers can learn more about how to participate in the Fruits of the City program at www.fruitsofthecity.org or by contacting the program directly at fruits@mnproject.org or 651-789-3321.
The Minnesota Project was also a finalist in the Energy and Climate category at this year’s Environmental Initiative Awards for their work to retrofit 16 Minnesota poultry facilities with LED lighting technology –reducing energy consumption by approximately 70% with simple paybacks for farmers of 3 years or less.
Give Today!
Visit www.givemn.org/organization.Minnesota-Project to schedule your Give to the Max Day donation.
About the Awards
The Environmental Initiative Awards was established to honor those working in partnership and encourage collaborative approaches to environmental problem solving. From large statewide efforts to small-scale locally based projects, many of Minnesota’s most innovative environmental efforts have succeeded as a result of collaboration. The program annually honors innovative projects that have achieved extraordinary environmental results by working in partnership.
About The Minnesota Project
The Minnesota Project is a nonprofit organization championing the sustainable production and equitable distribution of energy and food in communities across Minnesota. To best address the multiple factors that define sustainability, the organization focuses on three areas – the development and efficient use of clean renewable energy, promotion of sustainable agriculture practices and production, and consumption of local, sustainably grown food. Founded more than 30 years ago, today the organization works toward establishing a sustainable Minnesota by 2039 through policy research, education and outreach, as well as developing key ground-up, grassroots initiatives targeted at empowering communities and their leaders. www.mnproject.org.
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