Saturday, October 5, 2013 from 6:00 PM to 10:00 PM

Parktoberfest! $100 per person, hosted by St. Louis Park Emergency Program and The SLP Public Schools Foundation – Entertainment, Gourmet food, beer and wine at the Warehouse Winery in St. Louis Park!! This supports two great causes… STEP and the St. Louis Park Public Schools!

STEP and the St. Louis Park Public Schools Foundation are pleased to sponsor Parktoberfest!  Entertainment, Gourmet food, beer and wine at the Warehouse Winery in St. Louis Park.

Chefs Joe and Dotty Zahner will be coordinating the food for the event with gourmet grilling, food trucks and a specialty dessert.

Steeltoe and Surley Beer and Warehouse Winery wine is included in your ticket.

Questions?   Call Board member Curt Rahman at 612-207-5411

6415 Cambridge Street
Saint Louis Park, 55426

Purchase tickets here!

http://warehousewineryevent.eventbrite.com

The months ahead are HIGH-NEED TIMES at STEP (St. Louis Park’s local food shelf) but you can ensure that families & children do not go hungry.

 PACK THE PEWS so STEP can STOCK THE SHELVES!

Be a part of this community-wide, congregation-led effort!

Collect non-perishable food items for STEP the weekend of May 18& 19th.

Our challenge to the community is to raise 100,000 pounds of food and/or dollars to help with the purchase  food.  With your help we can reach this goal!

CHALLENGE GRANT

This year marks the 15th year of the Feinstein Foundation challenge.  The Feinstein Foundation has given over a million dollars to food support during Food Share month.  This year the foundation will match a percentage of all monetary donations made to STEP between March 1st and April 30th.  Make your dollars go         further—donate to STEP during MN FoodShare Month

Looking for an easy way to donate to STEP?

Check out the STEP web site at www.stepslp.org and click on the GIVEMN button.  Donating through GIVEMN saves time, postage and paper!  You will receive an electronic acknowledgement for your donation, and at year end you will receive an electronic summary of your giving for tax purposes.

Donate to STEP on GIVEMN during March and enjoy the creative updates provided by the social work team and featuring yours truly, Julie Lapointe.

Are you interested in organizing a food drive?

If your family or organization would like help organizing a food drive for STEP, you can check out the STEP web site, stepslp.org, for more information or call Julie

Jergens at 952-925-4899, ext. 14.

Businesses that are STEPing up in March:
- Mention Empty Bowls when an order is placed at Linsk Flowers and they will donate 15% of the arrangement cost to Empty Bowls. This is limited to metro deliveries only and cannot be combined with other offers.
-Come into Linsk Flowers, Donate $5.00 in the jar and receive a rose in exchange for your donation.
-During the month of March at McCoy’s, 25 cents of each pint of Steel Toe Beer will be donated to Empty Bowls.
-During the month of March, order the McCoy’s appetizer called The Nuggets, and 50 cents will be donated to Empty Bowls.
-10 cents of every cone from Ben & Jerry’s will be donated to Empty Bowls in the month of March.

After a number of assignments the program disbanded for some mysterious reason.  I was disappointed to be sure.  It was something I was good at and it was my way of giving back to my community.  I then found out that STEP had a food and clothing shelf.  Since I was working full time, I was unable to assist with this part of their program until last year.

At the end of June, 2011, I suffered a series of seizures at home before going to work.  To make a long story short, I did not report to work that day.  The office called my house several times before the owner of the company drove to my house to check on me.  He found me fully conscious yet unaware of my surroundings.  I did not know who he was let alone who I was.  I spent the next three weeks in the hospital.  I remember none of it.  In fact, I remember very little from last year.

I now suffer short term memory loss. This has cost me my job of 31 years which I dearly loved.  I am 59 years old, living on disability and needless to say, unemployed.  My life has certainly changed.

One of the first things I did once I gathered myself together was to get in touch with the folks at STEP to volunteer.  Even with my issues of memory loss, they welcomed me on board working in the food shelf warehouse, which I enjoy.  STEP does an important service for the community, helping those in need.  To be a part of that makes me feel useful and good again.

I particularly enjoy working on Thursdays when the people we serve place their food orders and come by to pick them up.  I work in the warehouse weighing their orders and helping our clients load their cars.  I enjoy talking and joking around with them, keeping it light so they feel good about themselves rather than embarrassed having to come to a food shelf.

I think that conveys the demeanor and attitude of everyone at STEP.  They are kind and gracious and quick to make everyone feel welcome.  With the things that have happened to me over the past year and a half, they have been kind to me and have welcomed me in.  I certainly appreciate that.  It is my delight to be a part of such a fine organization.  Not only do I get to help others, but I have been helped in the process.  What could be better than that?

To our online and in house Donors goes a big THANK YOU!! We exceeded our goal!! 

This is a yearly event that STEP asks donors to participate in by going online to donate. Give to the Max day kept its promise to be BIG, BIG, Big and Easy, Easy, Easy, to give online.

To continue online donations, just go onto our website www.STEPSLP.org and click the Donate Now Button. It will take you to a secure online donation site where you can easily donate

The Challenge and Opportunity:

According to a September 2011 report by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, 10.3% of Minnesotans live in households that sometimes struggle to get enough food.  The costs of hunger and limited access to fresh fruits and vegetables in Minnesota are staggering.  The Garden Gleaning Project is organizing from the ground up to change this through an improved access to healthy and fresh foods in food shelves in Hennepin County

This neighbor-to-neighbor project aims to source locally grown produce with a special emphasis placed on the importance of fostering longstanding and sustainable relationships between food shelves and their nearby community gardens.  Through capacity building, networking, and resource sharing, the project engages community members in bringing about a healthier, more dignified, and more resilient local foods system.

To become a part of the Garden Gleaning Project

Contact:
Nan Zosel, Neighborhood Coordinator, STEP food shelf
Email: STEPgleaning@gmail.com
Phone: 612-868-8985

Also feel free to drop off your produce at STEP during our business hours listed below:

STEP–St. Louis Park Emergency Program
6812 West Lake St.
St. Louis Park, MN 55426

STEP food shelf
Phone: 952 925 4899
Fax: 952-925-5161
Email: info@STEPslp.org

STEP Office Hours:
Mondays—8am to 4pm
Tuesdays—Noon to 8pm
Wednesdays—8am to 4pm
Thursdays—8am to 4pm
Fridays—8am to Noon

STEP accepts donations of all types of fresh fruits and vegetables

At STEP, we encourage all donors and community members to consider donating one of our Top Ten Needed Items.  This list includes items that are in high-demand by the families we serve, items that are difficult or too expensive for STEP to access, or items that help add variety to our shelves for families shopping.

We also encourage everyone to consider donating food and personal care items as well as contributing funds.  STEP needs a strong mix of both to be able to provideSt. Louis Parkfamilies with the most helpful experience in our food shelf.  In particular, this year has been more challenging for STEP to access good product at reasonable prices through our sources so food donations directly to STEP are even more needed right now.  Below is the list of our top ten and also a printable flyer:

1. Tuna or Other Canned Meat
2. Peanut Butter and Jelly
3. Canned Fruit
4. Rice
5. Toilet Paper
6. Cereal
7. Coffee, Tea, Hot Cocoa, Cold Drink Mix
8. Boxed Meal Options
9. Baking Supplies
10. Your Favorite Food Items

STEP Top Ten Needed Items Flyer