In Roseville, Coalition and State Officials Announcing Campaign To Reduce The Meal Gap

Minnesota Lt. Governor Yvonne Prettner Solon is expected today (Wednesday) to join representatives from General Mills, Hunger Solutions Minnesota and Hunger-Free Minnesota  to launch a new state-wide hunger-relief campaign aimed at serving thousands of low-income seniors and unemployed people. 

The host for the kick-off announcement will be the Roseville Area Senior Program (RASP), which is serving Ramsey County's highest percent of homebound elderly people. A news conference is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. today at the Fairview Community Center, which houses the RASP. The Fairview Community Center is located at 1910 County Road B West. 

Some Roseville area seniors, long-term volunteers and senior programming staff also will be hand to speak about efforts to meet the nutritional needs of seniors. Currently, RASP's array of services include Meals on Wheels, a program that each day delivers meals to about 100 home-bound residents. 

RASP is a part of Roseville Area Schools' Community Education and is supported by the North Suburban Senior Council and individual contributions. 

Hunger Solutions Minnesota is an organization dedicated to ending hunger in Minnesota. It supports more than 300 agencies that provide food to people in need. 

Meanwhile, Hunger-Free Minnesota is a coalition of community leaders and citizens, nonprofit agencies, food banks, food shelves and corporate partners. It has already has raised $3.5 million in private funding to implement its strategic action plan that is comprised of 22 state-wide initiatives aimed at solving the missing meal gap in Minnesota. Initiatives include new partnerhips and direct grants. For more information, visit www.hungerfreemn.org.