Essentia Health partners with Second Harvest to boost Nourish the Northland Campaign

Essentia Health is honored to extend a longtime partnership with Second Harvest Northland (SHN) by making a significant contribution toward Phase 2 of its Nourish the Northland Capital Campaign. Essentia is contributing $105,000 to further SHN’s mission of providing safe, dignified and equitable access to nutritious food for communities across Northeast Minnesota and Northwest Wisconsin. The $105,000 contribution brings Essentia’s total assistance for campaign to almost $200,000.

“Essentia has been a longtime partner in our hunger-relief work,” said Shaye Moris, president and CEO of SHN. “This most recent gift is supporting our new facility and access to a better variety and amount of nutritious food for our neighbors facing hunger.”

This investment aligns perfectly with Essentia’s focus on enhancing access to healthy food as a way to improve quality of life in the communities we serve. Across St. Louis County, food insecurity rates are 12.5% for adults and 17.4% for children. Both numbers exceed state averages.

“At Essentia, we know that access to good, nutritional food is foundational to a healthy lifestyle,” said Tonya Loken, community relations director at Essentia. “Unfortunately, that access is restricted for many members of our community. That’s why we’ve been proud to collaborate with Second Harvest and support their work to knock down those barriers.”

As a nonprofit health system, Essentia is committed to addressing social drivers of health and improving healthy outcomes. Last year, Essentia supported 194 nonprofit organizations across Minnesota, North Dakota and Wisconsin through direct contributions. Essentia employees also logged 29,000 community volunteer hours.

Launched in 2023, Second Harvest Northland’s $20 million Nourish the Northland Capital Campaign was launched to transform its hunger-relief efforts throughout NE Minnesota and NW Wisconsin.  Supported by Essentia Health, this campaign funded the acquisition, renovation and construction of a new, state-of-the-art 86,000 square-foot facility, including a 13,600 square foot freezer and cooler, in west Duluth.  This project increases Second Harvest’s capacity to increase the amount and variety of fresh and nutritious food available to neighbors facing hunger. 

Phase 1 was completed in January and included a $75,000 contribution from Essentia. Phase 2 is bringing SHN’s vision to life with a market-style food shelf program and a volunteer/community engagement center intended to support nearly 1,000 children, seniors and adults weekly in Duluth and the surrounding area.