Tons of fun: Annual Food Drive ends on high note at KARE 11 studios
The Salvation Army’s Annual Food Drive ended on a high note March 28 at KARE 11 studios in Golden Valley, where community members dropped off more than 2 tons of nonperishable food donations in their final push to help hungry Minnesota families. (See photos.)
One of the donors, Lynn Goodwin, filled the trunk of her car with food donations she gathered from her neighbors. She gave the food to honor one of her relatives who was often helped by The Salvation Army before he died tragically.
“The Salvation Army was always there for him,” said Lynn (pictured right). “The Salvation Army is now our main charity to give back to in his memory.”
KARE 11 supported the monthlong food drive by making The Salvation Army the beneficiary of its annual “Food Fight” fundraiser, which featured four of the station’s anchor teams battling to see which group could raise the most money to fight hunger – Team Bel, Team Julie, Team Randy, and Team Reggie.
Team Julie won the contest by raising more than $36,000. Combined, all four teams raised a whopping $97,000 to help restock The Salvation Army’s 22 food pantries and 13 hot meal programs in Minnesota.
“We all are the winners, because this (money) is going to such an amazing effort,” announced KARE 11 daytime anchor Alexis Rogers during a live broadcast. “The amount of money you raised in the last month is going to provide 121,213 meals in our community. Bravo!”
KARE 11 also supported the drive by creating fun-filled Can Stacking and Cornhole tournaments. In turn, The Salvation Army created a Can Stacking Challenge for community members to participate in and spread on social media. Together, these videos garnered tens of thousands of views.
Many other local businesses supported the food drive as well, including Blaze Credit Union, Morrie’s auto dealers, Slumberland Furniture, and Schuler Shoes, all of which served as food drop-off locations throughout March. Star Tribune also joined the fun, hosting several pop-up food drives at local Cub grocery store locations (pictured right).
Apartment development company Norhart trumpeted the food drive by creating a series of videos for its youth-oriented YouTube channel, Fearlessly Unicorn. The videos star a young girl named Claire and her dad, Mike Kaeding, Norhart CEO. The first video features Claire “hijacking” KS95 radio to become famous but finding new purpose after learning about The Salvation Army’s Annual Food Drive.
This year’s food collection was critically important because inflation has been hindering The Salvation Army’s ability to serve local families.
“We sincerely thank all of partners, donors and volunteers who rallied community support to keep The Salvation Army’s food pantries stocked in 2024," said Lt. Col. Randall Polsley, leader of The Salvation Army Northern Division.
You can join The Salvation Army's mission of serving others by giving a donation or signing up to volunteer.