Each spring, associates at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota participate in the annual Minnesota FoodShare Campaign. They take part in creative company-wide activities to raise money for food shelves across the state. With one in nine Minnesotans not knowing where their next meal is coming from, supporting access to healthy food is a crucial part of Blue Cross’ overall effort to advancing racial and health equity.

During this year’s campaign, Blue Cross associates raised more than $66,000 for 85 unique food shelves across Minnesota. Each associate received a dollar-for-dollar match from the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota Foundation – 50 cents went to support the food shelf of their choice and 50 cents supported the Minnesota FoodShare Fund, which supports a network of 300 food shelves across the state. Combined with Foundation matches, Blue Cross raised more than $132,000 to help Minnesotans in need gain access to healthy food.

“This campaign is part of our wider Blue Cross commitment to support access to healthy food as a key component of advancing racial and health equity and create healthier, more equitable communities,” says Bukata Hayes, vice president of racial and health equity and executive sponsor of this year’s Blue Cross Minnesota FoodShare campaign. “We owned it and became part of the solution for hungry Minnesotans.”

Getting creative with in-person, virtual events

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Blue Cross associates celebrated the FoodShare campaign with creative in-office competitions and activities to encourage their colleagues to donate. When COVID-19 forced the Blue Cross offices to close and associates to work remotely, those activities went virtual.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This year, the FoodShare campaign included a mix of virtual and in-person activities. Associate teams took group photos on company-wide theme days and shared their own stories about why they give. Winners were rewarded with donations to the food shelf of their choice. Other virtual activities included a NCAA March Madness bracket challenge, a Bollywood Zumba-style dance lesson and virtual bingo. Divisional teams were also recognized for engagement and donation totals.

“When you think about how challenging it would be to go to school or work or grow up without consistent access to healthy food, you realize how important it is for each and every one of us to do what we can to feed our hungry neighbors,” said Susan Schuster, principal community relations consultant. “Our Blue Cross associates make supporting access to healthy food a priority so that every Minnesotan has an equitable opportunity to thrive.”

“Thank you to our associates for their remarkable generosity and to our associate social impact action network who helped make this impact possible.” -Bukata Hayes, vice president of racial and health equity

How food security supports racial and health equity

Increasing access to healthy food is key to enabling racial and health equity – efforts to ensure all people can live healthy lives without barriers. Blue Cross associates have a long history of leading these efforts by not only donating to food shelves in their communities, but also to nonprofits that help advance this work across Minnesota. These include the Hallie Q. Brown Community Center in St. Paul’s Rondo neighborhood and North Point Health and Wellness food shelf in north Minneapolis.

The annual FoodShare Campaign is part of food justice, where programs, policies and actions come together to help ensure everyone has access to the food they need to live a healthy life.

To learn more about Blue Cross’ efforts to combat food security and support racial and health equity, read our 2021 Report to the Community.