Every Meal 

The Sheridan Story has a new name, Every Meal.  The new name better reflects the mission to ensure children living with food insecurity get every meal they need, not just those provided by their school's free or reduced lunch programs. It also reflects the tremendous growth of the organization since its inception in 2010. As they celebrate their 10th anniversary this month in October 2020, Every Meal looks forward to deepening impact in the community. Every Meal is the new name, but the mission to fight child hunger remains as strong as ever.

Immanuel will be supporting families at Prairie View Elementary during the 2020-21 School year.  We are waiting to receive details about what this might look like with COVID restrictions at the school. (8/25/20).  

Volunteers are needed to pack meal bags at the Every Meal warehouse in Roseville.  Children ages 8 and up are allowed under parent supervision.  Volunteer information. 

Coronavirus Reponse:

On March 13, Every Meal transitioned our weekend food program to adapt to disruptions caused by COVID-19. Instead of delivering food to 250 Minnesota schools for direct distribution into children’s backpacks, we worked together with 31 districts in Minnesota and western Wisconsin and other community partners to provide food for children and families. To meet the skyrocketing needs, we increased food output by 400%, delivering 100,000 meals a week to over 37% of all K-12 children in Minnesota.

Thanks to community support, Every Meal has provided over 2,300,000 meals to local children and families. We continue to adapt our work to meet the rising demand and need your continued support.

Every Meal will be there for children through the ongoing disruptions caused by COVID-19 and long after to help stabilize families.

Every Meal works to combat hunger in our community by filling the gaps to food access that children face: primarily weekends and summers.

Every Meal facilitates a partnership between community organizations (i.e. churches, businesses, other faith communities) and schools. The partner groups are called Sponsors. Sponsors partner directly with a specific school and donate towards the cost of the program. They also typically volunteer in the school each week to distribute the food to the kids. The food is distributed discreetly, typically into the kids’ backpacks while they aren’t in the halls.

Immanuel is a Sponsor for Prairie View Elementary in Eden Prairie. We provide financial support for the program and volunteers who distribute the food on a weekly basis.

FaithBIT by Cari Larsen

On a recent Friday morning I was at Prairie View Elementary distributing food from Sheridan’s Story for some students. Sheridan’s Story provides food to families at many schools in Minnesota who experience food insecurity. Immanuel provides funding to pay for the food for the Prairie View students through our Social Ministries benevolence budget. We also provide the volunteers to distribute the food. I don’t know who the students are - only their teachers and the Prairie View social worker Julie Weeden knows.

The school is pretty quiet at 8 am on Fridays. Some students are in the multipurpose room for before school activities; the teachers are usually in grade level meetings, and the hallways are pretty empty. It’s a peaceful time to pray. As I organize the food to be distributed, I pray for each family who will receive food. As I walk through the halls, I pray prayers of thanksgiving for the Prairie View teachers. As I leave the school I pray for Julie and the Prairie View office staff and the Immanuel volunteers who take turns distributing the food.

I am grateful for the opportunity to respond to God’s call to care for our neighbors.