Princess Kay of the Milky Way Visiting Rochester Thanks to $15,000 Donation
FILL IN THE BLANK: The last dairy product you ate or drank was _____.
I'm just going to guess that it was cheese, mostly because the cheese obsession happening in Wisconsin seems to have seeped into our lives in Minnesota too. No judgment if you love cheese. But, imagine you've got a burger that just came off the grill and there was zero cheese in your fridge. Or, maybe your love of dairy is milk and you just poured yourself a bowl of cereal only to open the fridge and realize there isn't a gallon to be found. That's the reality for many families in our area. But there is some good news! Thanks to a whole bunch of people and organizations, over $15,000 was raised to help ensure families experiencing food insecurity have milk and other dairy products available.
Over $15,000 raised through the "March Milk Madness" Campaign
Huge congrats and a huge shoutout to those who were part of the "March Milk Madness" campaign that helped raise a total of $15,575 for Channel One Regional Food Bank. According to the press release from Channel One, The Olmsted County American Dairy Association partnered with several local churches and organizations including Gloria Dei Lutheran Church, St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, the Minnesota Dairy Initiative, and the One Gallon at a Time Initiative.
“Our Olmsted County American Dairy Association Board, which is made of up local dairy farmers and supporters, regularly donates to Channel One because we believe members of our community should have access to a variety of nutritious dairy products and the availability of dairy at Channel One helps families and children to develop healthy, life-long habits. Collectively, our board decided that we wanted to give big this year for
Minnesota FoodShare Month and we wanted to grow our donations as large as possible. That is where the idea of March Milk Madness came from. We are thankful for our community organizations and members who partnered with us to make March Milk Madness a great success and I also think we had a lot of fun along the way, especially with Gloria Dei’s Pastor Dave Berg getting out on a farm to milk a cow. We are excited to give this money to Channel One so that they can do what they do best–provide for our community.” -Carrie Ostman, Olmsted County American Dairy Association Board Member and lead organizer of “March Milk Madness”
Although 2020 was a tough year for many in Minnesota, according to Feeding America, 2021 is showing that more families will be struggling with food insecurity. It is projected that 11.3% of the population in Minnesota will experience food insecurity and in Olmsted County, that number is nearly 8%.
Huge thanks to all who were part of this endeavor to help others in our community. A check presentation will be taking place on April 23rd at Channel One Regional Food Bank where several will be in attendance as well as Princess Kay of the Milky Way.
If you love hearing the good news stories, be sure to check out the story of the local business that just donated over $20,000 to the Ronald McDonald House in Rochester! You can read that here. I've got 20 more amazing stories of good happening in our community below too. Just keep scrolling for the good stuff...and pass it along to spread more smiles in our world.