Edina Liquor Quadruples 2010 Donation to Food Shelf

A at managed to collect 680 pounds of food and $1,023 to benefit local nonprofit Volunteers Enlisted to Assist People (VEAP).

As each dollar collected represents one pound of food, the 2011 grand total was 1,703 pounds of donated food. That's more than four times 2010 figures.

Liquor Operations Director Steve Grausam attributed much of the increase to staff members asking customers if they would like to donate $1 to VEAP during the checkout process.

"The $1 was just added to their bill totals,” he said. “People don’t always remember to bring a food item, so this was a great way to get them to still help out such a great cause.”

Coupled with this year's paper-shredding event—people were able to shred documents for free with a donation—which collected another 275 pounds of food.

Bloomington-based VEAP serves low-income, senior and disabled residents of Edina, Bloomington, Richfield and South Minneapolis.

This was Edina Liquor's fourth year participating in the food drive, in partnership with MillerCoors and the Minnesota Municipal Beverage Association as part of a statewide food drive.

Grausam is already making plans to secure even more donations in 2012, hoping to increase them by 20 percent to more than 2,000 pound of food.

"We are going to do what we did this year again next year in hope of added success,” he said. “We are also looking into other opportunities to allow our customers to help VEAP.”