Dear Minneapolis Market Sponsors,

Another month has past at the Minneapolis Market and I’m a few days late with my update. The Minneapolis Market continues to be a great success and blessing in the Uptown neighborhood and the Upper Room Community.

In April, we were able to welcome 40 new members to the Minneapolis Market. Currently, we have over 300 members that we continue to serve at the Market. We are able to help these 300 members because over 100 Upper Room communtity members have pledged to sponsor these people. It is amazing to see the increadible impact that God is having on the hearts and souls of both the members and the Upper Room Community.

One of the Minneapolis Market’s strenghts is its volunteers. The Minneapolis Market is open on Thursday evenings and Saturday mornings. Each shift needs about 7 volunteers who fill a variety of roles at the market. Each night volunteers welcome the members, help the members check out by counting and weighing food, carry grocery bags out to members cars, serve lemonade, stock shelves and interact with the Minneapolis Market community. We also have a stocking team that just started helping stock the Market after our delivery of food from Second Harvest. Each week, the market needs around 20-25 volunteers. In total we have over 70 volunteers who make the Minneapolis Market a success. We are so thankful for all the hard work, dedication, smiles, helpful hands and hearts of each one of our volunteers. The market would not be the same with out them. There is still room available for more volunteers. If you are interested you can fill out an interest form at minneapolismarket.org and you will be contacted by Dan.

Another exciting event at the market this month was a service learning opportunity for Bloomington Middle School students. April 23rd was the annual 7th grade Service Day at Olson Middle School. Twenty-one 7th graders, three parents and Becky (their teacher and Upper Room member) chose to go to Minneapolis Market as their service project. Students were educated about poverty in Minneapolis and given a tour of the Market before they began stocking shelves and making birthday bags for children of families who use the Market. The seventh graders spent 3 hours cleaning shelves, arranging food, cutting down boxes, cleaning out a freezer and wrapping birthday presents. The students were suprised by how dignified the Market was…”it looks like Byerly’s in here!” was one of Becky’s favorite quotes. Many of the students were impressed by the fact that much of the food they found at the Market was the same food they had in their own cupboards at home. A few students asked how/if they could help out again at the Market. They were especially excited to see a picture of the kids who received the birthday bags. One girl summarized the day perfectly by saying, “I believe that if we have a chance and are able to help someone out, we should help them.”

Currently, each person who has pledged to sponsor a member at the Minneapolis Market has been activated. Your bank statement will reflect a charge of your pledged amount with an “Upper Room” charge. If you have any questions regarding your pledged amount please contact Joe at joe@urminneapolis.org.

Thank you so much for your continued support of the Minneapolis Market and the Upper Room.

Again, if you would like any additional information on volunteering, sponsorship or previous Sponsorship Updates, you can visit the Minneapolis Market website at minneapolismarket.org.

Molly Schroeder
Minneapolis Market Sponsor Coordinator

molschroeder@gmail.com