Capital Campaign
Channel One needs your help to complete our Growing to Give Capital Campaign for facilities expansion. Our expanded warehouse will enable us to continue to serve the rising number of people struggling with hunger in our region.
In recent years, Channel One made the necessary decision to expand our facility to meet the growing hunger needs of our community. Funds were secured, and the building addition was completed in 2015 at a cost of $1.9 million. $1.4 million was raised through 2016, leaving $450,000 needed to close our project. To continue our high level of hunger relief programs and avoid redirecting valuable financial resources to pay a mortgage, Channel One needs your help to keep our focus where it is needed most — feeding people in need. Can you help?
Pick YOUR Apple
Make YOUR Pledge
x 10 months = $1,000
x 10 months = $750
x 10 months = $500
x 10 months = $250
x 10 months = $100
x 10 months = $__
one time gift = $__
*Gifts of $1,000 or more will be recognized on the Growing to Give donor recognition wall at Channel One.
Help END Hunger
You can help us reach our goal to continue feeding people and changing lives!
Questions? For more information, please call 507-424-1730
Channel One – then and now
Channel One Regional Food Bank has been feeding people and changing lives for more than 30 years. What began in 1980 as a small food shelf and programs for senior citizens has rapidly grown into a regional food bank distributing 9.3 million pounds of food annually to nearly 100,000 people in need in 13 counties in Southeast Minnesota & La Crosse County, WI.
Meeting the need
Fortunately, our food resources and contributors have kept pace with the increased demand for food assistance. However, one of the key tools at Channel One can no longer maintain pace – our warehouse. Two key hunger relief initiatives, our Backpack Program and Mobile Pantry Program, have created additional space needs, and we are bursting at the seams.
Growth is vital
Channel One strives to be a good steward of our partners’ investments, and we have examined all of our options to best utilize our available resources. We worked with a warehouse expert to find more efficient ways to use our current space. It was determined, in order to continue to serve the rising number of people struggling with hunger, an expansion is necessary.
Together, we can continue changing lives
A warehouse expansion is vital for Channel One to receive more donated food, have the necessary space to safely process the food we receive and distribute more food to people still struggling with hunger. In order to do this, Channel One needs the following:
Project Overview
Warehouse Expansion
Our warehouse expansion will add more than 23,000 square feet of additional warehouse space. Expansion also calls for relocation of three dock doors, providing increased safety for deliveries and pick-ups.
Freezer and Cooler Expansions
Our current freezer and cooler space is not enough to keep up with the increase in perishable items secured and distributed. With the prvious cooler converted to freezer space, and building a new, larger cooler, we have increased capacity by 50 percent.
Additional Repack Room
We have seen a significant increase in the amount of food that needs to be labeled, repacked or somehow modified before it can be distributed. This has led to a need for more space where volunteers, working with trained staff, can prepare food for distribution.
Community Kitchen
Leadership Greater Rochester class of 2013 is partnering with Channel One to educate members of our community about healthy eating. To do this we are building The Kitchen at Channel One – a kitchen classroom facility where community members can learn how to prepare meals that are healthy and easy to make. At the completion of this project, we will have a fully functional kitchen and classroom that offers a variety of classes.
You can help us reach our goal to continue feeding people and changing lives!
- Show this video to your members and encourage them to give to our expansion project.
- Print off copies of this flyer and insert them in your bulletins.
- Contact Barbara Schramm at Channel One at 507-424-1705 to have a representative come speak to your organization about the expansion project.
- Give a gift to Channel One from your organization.
- Encourage your members to give to Channel One by taking an extra collection for the expansion project. (You can request additional envelopes by calling 507-287-2350).
- Share your organization’s commitment to partnering with Channel One on the expansion project on your social media pages.
- All materials are available in electronic form, so simply contact us and let us know what you need!