CEAP collaborates with a variety of partners within the food sector in order to increase access to nutritious food for our neighbors. One such partner is General Mills, who is a philanthropic supporter of CEAP and most recently invested in our Mobile Food Program. “General Mills calls the Twin Cities home and it’s important to us to strengthen the communities where we have a footprint. We see CEAP as a partner that helps to extend the values that General Mills has around racial equity in food access to support in our community,” says Alyssa Banks, Manager of Global Impact Initiatives at General Mills.
Alyssa notes that although food plays an important role in people's lives, not everyone has equal access to ongoing food resources in their communities especially when it comes to race, the neighborhoods one lives in as well as their socio-economic status. As a result of times of crisis and structural injustices alike, many of our neighbors are “forced to make really tough decisions to put food on the table,” Alyssa says. “People, regardless of their race, place or income should have access to the food they need and prefer. We all have different backgrounds of what food means to us.”
General Mills has continued to support CEAP as an organization that bridges that gap because we rise up to respond to the challenges of the time. Because we are part of our community, we have a pulse on what is most important and what our neighbors are facing. Alyssa commends how CEAP is continuing to put equity at the center of what they do and has created a space that is very welcoming and reflective of the diversity of the residents of the community we serve.
“CEAP is more than emergency assistance. You don’t just provide programming, you really advocate for and design equitable solutions in the way that your neighbors want and prefer to be supported. General Mills sees the power that strengthening and investing in community equitably can help to support better outcomes, and CEAP really represents that,” Alyssa says. Thank you to Alyssa and General Mills for investing in CEAP and our community!
