Feeding Families in Need
In Central Minnesota
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We have the power to create an impact, one meal at a time.
In the U.S., more than 1 in 6 children don’t know where their next meal is coming from and often go to bed hungry. No child, regardless of age, should be worried about hunger.
The cost per meal to feed
a family of 6 is only
$2.10
Feeding a child breakfast, lunch, and dinner for an entire month is only
$31
Our communities need us.
Let’s feed our neighbors.
The Brainerd Lakes Outreach Program is a compassionate humanitarian organization dedicated to providing essential food assistance.
We have an unwavering mission of feeding our Minnesota neighbors. Located in the Brainerd Lakes area (Nisswa), our vision is that 80-90% of the meals we package will be distributed within a 60-80 mile radius of Nisswa. The remaining 10-20% can be distributed to greater Minnesota, used for disaster relief and/or distributed internationally.
meals packed since 2012
We package 10 different meals that are nutrient dense, including protein, vitamins, and minerals. They only require 3-8 cups of boiling water, and each packet contains 6 servings.
UPCOMING EVENT
2026 Fishing to End Hunger Tournament
October 3rd, 2026
Get ready to reel in the excitement at our upcoming fishing tournament and show your support for The Outreach Program in the Brainerd Lakes Area. Register for the fishing tournament today!
We are excited to start working on our RAISED BED GARDEN project at the Outreach BLA facility.
We received our permit today from the City of Nisswa so we will move forward with creating 2 garden areas on our property:
1. Vegetable garden, utilizing raised beds in an area approximately 1,500 square feet. (50 x 30 feet). Located in our front lawn that receives direct sunlight, we will begin construction of a fenced in garden, raised beds, planting all kinds of great vegetables. We will have polllnator plants and shrubs around the outside perimeter, watering system and a very thought out plan.
We will be good stewards of our land, good stewards to our neighboring businesses, and we want to create something of beauty and resource for years to come.
The produce from this garden will be provided to the 2 locations for Lakes Area Food Shelf - Pequot Lakes and Baxter.
Our goal is that 75% of the produce will be directly provided to the 2 food shelf locations; with the other 25% TBD of use.
(a) as a resource for us through a Farmer's Market - which would help us raise a few $$ to help us replenish each year's start up plants OR
(b) depending on bounty, it may all just go directly to the 2 food shelf locations.
**We want this project to be sustainable and the idea behind us selling a bit of the crop would allow us to have SEED money for the next year 🙂
2. A small fenced in garden up closer to our building that will serve as a JOY garden. This garden area will have herbs and flowers planted. The flowers will serve as a JOY/giving garden.
As a non profit; it's difficult to spend money to thank volunteers for the countless hours they donate. A JOY garden can produce flowers that not only we could pick and give as a thank you to our volunteers, but should produce enough flowers that we can share with a few of our non profit partners. That way, our non profit partners could also thank their volunteers.
Stay tuned for updates on this project. We received an amazing grant from Sourcewell to accomplish this. Thank you Sourcewell for believing and entrusting us with grant dollars for this. We are humbled to have received this grant and we will create something special and unique within our outdoor space that will help provide fresh produce to many families.
We have a WHOLE list of partners that we are gathering to get this project completed. (this is not a complete list... it's just the beginning..)
Sourcewell
Treeline Acres Farm (Candice Zimmerman)
Double T Acres (Todd & Tracy Linbo)
Copper Creek Nisswa MN (Joe Hall)
Steffen Tree Service (Dan Steffen)
Pequot Manufacturing (Laura O'Brien and her dad)
Lakes Area Food Shelf (Tammy Larsen Director)
Gnarley Oaks Acres (Christy Ramler)
We have gathered some really great people to help us with the layout, what to plant, when to plant, etc. and are looking forward to seeing this project come to life.
If you are interested donating to this project - we have a long way to get this project to completion. We appreciate you considering helping out.
We have many options fo donating.
Mail a donation to 24489 Hazelwood Drive, Nisswa 56468 indicate GARDEN project in the memo.
Online www.outreachprogramBLA.org make a note GARDEN project in the notes section.
Stop by and check out the facility and make a donation by cash, check, credit/debit card.
This will be the "construct it" year. Next spring, we will plant, grow, harvest. We will be looking to the community to help us with that part for sure. We are going to need many hands to take care of the garden once established. AND we will have ASKS for volunteers on our Facebook page as we start the construction phase.
Ideas, suggestions, offering to help - email shawn@outreachoprogramBLA.org
For now - celebrating the permit and the GO status to start the work.
Our mission is simple: we want to feed our Minnesota neighbors.
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Your generosity is the driving force behind the mission of feeding hungry families in need.
