It is my joy to welcome John Teipel to the staff of Open Hands Midway to be our NEW Food Shelf Specialist! John has been a faithful volunteer at Open Hands Midway for the past 4 years serving at our meal and food shelf programs. He is an amazing person, amazing volunteer and does all he can to make sure everyone he serves with and every guest he interacts with feel cared about. If you come to Open Hands Midway regularly, please join me in welcoming John.
This year we are celebrating 15 years of serving our neighbors in need. I have had the honor of being here for the past 10 years. I have to pinch myself as that time sure has flown by and I cannot believe it has already been 10 years! I am grateful for the vision those who came before me had of serving this community. Our celebration includes a big goal of raising $15,000.00 for 15 years. It is my hope that many who read this will be inspired to support our work with a gift to help us reach that goal. Shameless plug, you can give more than once, just sayin'...
I often think of the partnerships we have made and the honors we have received over the years. One of our faithful partners has been Westside Volkswagen. A huge thank you to former General Manager Steve Hendricks, and current General Manager Tami Willet, for the ways they have, and continue to, support us.
We also are honored to be supported by the Minnesota United FC. This past fall, myself and Kirsten Fryer of the Open Hands Midway Board of Directors, had a chance to sit down with current MNUFC CEO Shari Ballard. It was a delight to have her ask us all about Open Hands Midway and to know she believes in the vital work we are doing. They continue to support us with a yearly winter wear drive and other things throughout the year. There are countless people and organizations we have had the pleasure of being supported by in my time as Executive Director. Many support us by sponsoring a day of meal service; holding food drives for our food shelf; providing pet food for our guests who have pets; or simply sending their financial support when they are able. To EVERYONE, partners, volunteers, and donors, please know how much you are valued and that we could not do what we do without you, just sayin'...
As we are now well into summer, I am now well into the season of bike riding. Just yesterday I surpassed 2,400 miles for the year. Mind you I was able to start biking in January due to the mild winter but still, that is a significant number considering there are probably at least another 3.5 to 4 months of biking left for the year. One of my volunteers is convinced that I will hit 5,000 miles this year. I had, up until recently, told her she was nuts. Now I am not so sure as that seems in reach, just sayin'...
Which leads me to share with you a bike ride I did not too long ago. On June 23 I loaded my bike into my truck and went to St. Croix Falls, WI where I biked the Gandy Dancer State Trail to Danbury passing through the towns of Centuria, Milltown, Luck, Frederic, Lewis, Siren and Webster. The trail traversed wetlands, prairies, farm fields, small towns, former train stations, over rivers, near lakes and much more. Are you wondering how the trail got it's name? Allow me to share. This trail sits on a former railroad so when the railroad was built, the Gandy Tool Company supplied the tools used to build the railroad. Those who built the railroad were said to have appeared to be dancing while they worked as their movements were all in unison, thus the name Gandy Dancer was adopted. The trail is not asphalt but rather crushed limestone, so one cannot travel as fast. What an experience! I had heard about this trail and wanted to give it a go. So I looked for a nice day, not too hot, no rain in the forecast and chose the day. WOW, it was a great ride, a LONG ride and probably a bit more than I expected. Recent rain had caused some trees to fall over the trail. Thankfully none were too big so I was able to navigate them. Did you know this trail passes through the Yo-Yo Capital of the World? Yup, Luck Wisconsin. Duncan Yo-Yo's were made their from 1946 to 1965 because of the excellent supply of hardwood that was available. Pretty cool. After 70 miles I was getting pretty tired. I was in Frederic and had 28 miles to go. I actually called my Dad for encouragement and then I texted two friends and asked them to send me some motivational texts because I did not think I could go the next 28 miles. All, of course, offered me the encouragement, one even telling me jokes. I did make it all the way but at the very end coming off the trail I found myself in a totally different spot than when I got on the trail. I was lost! I stopped, put my hands in the air and said, "Oh come on!" Lucky for me I had parked near a place where I recalled the name of a nearby restaurant and put that in my GPS which guided me back to my truck. 98 miles later I will say It was a LOOONNNNNNGGG day, worth it as the trail was nice, but I have to say I will probably not do anything of that length for awhile, just sayin'...
Anyway, back to Open Hands Midway. Much is happening here at Open Hands Midway. The July Summer Challenge is in full swing, Produce Distribution will be coming in about a month, Give to the Max day, and we will end the year with our 2nd Annual Community Night of Light, Feeding our Neighbors in Need tree lighting on December 6. We continue to see an increase in the number of guests we are serving at our meal and food programs and we are also seeing some new people step up to become volunteers. We are always looking for more and if you are someone who has availability during the day, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday, please click this link to learn more OR contact me at kay@openhandsmidway.org or call me at 651-646-6549 x4 with any questions you may have, just sayin'...
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