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The Suburban Ramsey Emergency Coalition started as an idea at the March 24, 2020 Board meeting of Arden Hills/Shoreview Rotary when, after donating what we had in available money to Ralph Reeder Food Shelf and The Sheridan Story (now Every Meal), we wondered: “what else can we do when we will not have normal fundraisers and there will be huge needs in the community?”
Twelve other service clubs and two community foundations in Northern Ramsey County were receptive to joining together in a Coalition to “assist vulnerable neighbors within our communities who are suffering the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic by aiding non-profit service organizations providing direct relief to those most in need.” Hundreds of organizations and individuals have donated directly to the Coalition and, if you add funds raised by the Virtual Run/Walk and Mustang Raffle, over a thousand have donated. The Coalition has raised nearly $170,000 so far, awarded 23 grants and organized about 70 volunteers to sew of 200 isolation gowns for Ramsey County Care Center. St. Paul and Minnesota (SPMF) has served as fiscal agent for the Coalition through the affiliation agreement of Shoreview Community Foundation. Due to the emergency situation during 2020, SPMF provided financial management at ZERO fee and all administrative expenses were donated by volunteers within the Coalition.
The Coalition has prided itself to be “nimble and quick” in provision of funds where most needed during these fast changing pandemic circumstances. Here are just 3 examples of quick turn-around in providing funds when needed:
- In early June, when school was out and Mounds View schools stopped providing food to the students, including those on free and reduced lunch programs, within 1 week, we provided a $10,000 grant to Ralph Reeder Food Shelf to provide food boxes to the most vulnerable children and their families in New Brighton, Mounds View and Arden Hills. Another grant of $5,000 was awarded to Community Partners with Youth to delivery of these approximately 4000 meals during the 10 months of summer.
- In November, a $10,000 grant was awarded to Northeast Youth and Family Services promptly to help re-open the NETS day treatment program for youth needing intensive mental health services. Funds were used for technology and safety equipment needed for a safe group therapy room and related training.
- Most recently, on January 27, 2021, Second Harvest Heartland submitted a $10,000 grant proposal to re-open the Roseville site for Minnesota Central Kitchen which had closed at the end of 2020 when federal CARES pandemic relief funds terminated. The grant was approved by our Coalition Steering Committee in a special meeting the next day and meals will resume being available on Friday, February 5. Minnesota Central Kitchen employs about 180 out-of-work restaurant employees at 10 locations to provide about 18,000 prepared meals per month to the most needy families. The Roseville site will provide 400 meals per week for 6 weeks to 175 targeted families in two Roseville elementary schools where over 75% of the students are enrolled in free and reduced lunch programs. Food for home preparation is also made available from the same site.
Other grants have gone to nonprofit organizations that are traditional partners of our Rotary Club including Every Meal (formerly Sheridan Story), Quincy House, YMCA and Solid Ground. If you know of other nonprofit organizations serving residents of our North Suburban area, please let me know or refer them to our website for information on how to submit a proposal.
The Suburban Ramsey Emergency Coalition is committed to continue helping our communities as long as people need assistance due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Thank you for all those who have donated to the Coalition. See www.suburbanramseycoalition.org for more information.