Featured FoodBank Spotlight: Toledo Seagate Food Bank

This Summer we are connecting with incredible Food Pantry partners throughout the Midwest to support their efforts to create more access to fresh fruits and vegetables. We have met some wonderful people who are passionate about offering fresh produce to community residents in need – and, we want to share their stories of inspiration and commitment.

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Meet Toledo Seagate Food Bank.

We had the pleasure of speaking with Mindy Rapp, Executive Director of Toledo Seagate Foodbank, to learn more about how the organization is continuing to offer valuable resources for the surrounding communities. Her passion and dedication is contagious (and her blue hair is oh, so cool)!

ABOUT
SeaGate Food Bank Inc. is Ohio’s only independent food bank. Founded by Alice Mosiniak, the organization started in a garage in 1977 with a strong sense of purpose and direction. Driven by compassion and determination, Alice enlisted the help of local officials and business leaders and started distributing food out of her West Toledo garage. By 1980, SeaGate Food Bank had become Toledo Ohio’s first regional food collection and distribution center.  The Toledo Food Bank has always provided food entirely free of charge to hundreds of pantries and programs.

Today, SeaGate Food Bank distributes food to over 400 pantries and programs that serve individuals. The Senior Program delivers over 5,600 senior food supplements each month in addition to providing food support to over 1,100 Veterans’ families. SeaGate Food Bank is 100% local with only 12 full time staff, but hundreds of dedicated volunteers and sponsors who share our commitment to eradicate hunger.

Mindy shared how the organization is committed to identifying needs in the community and then creating opportunities for new initiatives to help aid. One key program that was created to help teach residents about the importance of healthy nutrition is the Eat Right Academy. This 100% free program offers an 8-week on-site training to educate residents about basic food nutrition, food safety and how to cook healthy meals. Mindy and Seagate Foodbank are committed to continuing to push for fresh produce offerings to provide more nutritious meal options moving forward.

The future is full of growth and new opportunity for Seagate! They will be expanding into a second building with more space later this year to allow for more room to accommodate the community need. Their vertical hydroponic garden will also continue to grow – 2,000 plants are grown year round to allow for education about how to grow fresh produce in urban settings while producing fresh fruits and vegetables including; Strawberries, Peppers, Tomatoes and Squash to name a few.

We look forward for great things to come from this awesome community partner in Toledo!