Last week found Wayzata Rotarians at Interfaith Outreach and Community Partners (IOCP). Members brought healthy snacks for community after school homework programs and then repacked the beverages, applesauce, and snacks into individual bags to fuel the brains of those hungry learners!  A big thank you to all who donated snacks. In addition to providing service and touring the facility, we worked through a "Poverty Simulator" budgeting activity to allow us to better understand the difficult choices that must be made on a daily basis by those who live at or near the poverty line. Our group was also updated on important IOCP initiatives by staff Lynn Vettel, LaDonna Hoy, Liz Erstad-Hicks, and Nancy Holman. We learned that suburban poverty is growing faster than in the urban cores all over the United States. Local trends are especially troubling: according to census data, suburban poverty over the last ten years in Minneapolis/St.Paul has grown fully three times faster than in the cities. In Hennepin County, the Brookings Institute has calculated that a living wage for a family of two begins at $20.64, almost three times the current minimum wage.  Hunger currently costs the state of Minnesota $1.6 billion/year. IOCP tackles these problems from all directions--they provide emergency services to those in crisis, connect individuals and families with existing programs to ease and prevent future crises, and have initiated community wide efforts to systemically eradicate the causes of the crises in the first place. Some of IOCP's biggest efforts at the moment are finding affordable housing for their constituents, and continuing to launch a community wide cradle-to-career education program. They rely on "just-in-time miracles" to get their job done, along with a generous and supportive community and excellent staff and volunteers. Thank you Lynn, LaDonna, Liz, and Nancy!