Habitat for Humanity's A Brush with Kindess Program is the perfect way to get a group together to…read morevolunteer in the community. This is an especially great way to get your work involved in some volunteer work. I organized a group from my company to volunteer with ABWK this week and it was a wonderful experience. It's very easy to sign up a group and you don't need a large group to participate. Habitat for Humanity supplies everything you need for the project, all you need to do is bring the volunteers and your lunch. The volunteer day lasts from 8:30 to 4:00 in the summer. Most projects in the summer consisit of painting and scraping. They also do work in the winter where they work on the interior of homes. This program is a wonderful way to help people in the community and it definitely leaves you feeling fulfilled!

What a fantastic organization. I have volunteered at Second Harvest on several occasions. In…read moreaddition to being organized and easy to work with, they encourage fun. Volunteerism at Second Harvest typically involves labeling and packaging food for individual consumption. No matter what size group I have brought to this location, they always have enough work to keep us busy for 2+ hours. Yesterday we sorted through pallets full of potatoes and created five-pound bags for distribution to families in need. In a two-hour span, a team of 40 volunteers created enough packs to make nearly 7,000 meals. That is true impact. During the process, the Second Harvest team efficiently kept us in supply of the necessary products and played some entertaining music that made us forget we were trading desk jobs for manual labor. Exercise, fun, and community benefit all in one event! At the end of our volunteer event, the staff provided statistics to help us measure the impact of our time. They also explained their broad reach and how many lives Second Harvest touches on a regular basis. I am so thankful that organizations like this exist and that they truly do all possible to make life a bit better for those who are suffering. To be a part of it is both humbling and incredibly satisfying. Whether you have a group of corporate volunteers or are a retiree looking to spend some time helping others, Second Harvest is a great partner organization.

My eyes were opened yesterday, when our company decided to volunteer at Second Harvest Heartland…read moreService Center for our annual employee event. I can't remember all the stats, but I do remember them saying one person in ten goes hungry in Minnesota and western Wisconsin. And to think how much I eat, how much we as a country/state/community waste food. They can make a dollar stretch, and with so many causes looking for money, this is one that really can help out a lot of people. We had about 30 people from our office, but there were two other companies volunteering. Most of us went into the 'clean room', where we donned our lunch lady hairnets and surgical gloves. We started bagging pasta, moved on to bag granola cereal, and finished with bagging rice. Some of our group as well as the other companies bagged potatoes. In our three hours of work, we roughly filled over 400 pounds of pasta, 500 pounds of cereal, and 800 pounds of rice. I think the potatoes were in the thousand-pound range. In all, we did enough work that would provide over 8,000 meals to families of four. As a company, we bonded, and I got to learn a bit more about some of my coworkers. It was a great team building event and while we had fun, this activity serves a greater good. I would do this again in a heartbeat and I highly recommend it to companies, groups of friends, or if you feel like you want to 'pay it forward'. Pictures say thousands of words. Just look at all these happy volunteers. It says it all. Hopefully they will get the August album up soon so you can see our picture. Second Harvest and the families who receive help from them are very grateful, too. www.2harvest.org/volunteerphotos

At first I was a bit nervous about shopping here because I'm a trans person who doesn't fully pass…read moreas a woman, but nobody questioned my right to shop there, and I got a very nice dress for only $10.

This boutique is so darling, and with a great mission!…read more MISSION: 5 stars for the mission. They offer internships, business experience, and more for the East African women in this non-profit's youth program. LOCATION: They're near U of M West Bank on the corner, and they have parking in the back behind the building. SPACE: It's a smaller space, but unlike other consignment shops it makes visiting digestible! It's one main room and then a bargain rack in the hall. VARIETY: I will say it's more skewed to smaller sized with not a ton of L and XL offerings, and perhaps a skew to basics and a younger crowd, but definitely still worth a look through! PRICES: Everything is under $12 - in the entire place! You can find many things for under $5 even. A great bargain, and you know your money is going to a great cause.

Had such a great time volunteering here with SGAD!! I've volunteered with Surly at the Roseville…read morelocation before doing a hanger sort. This location was a bit different. We did a napkin and placemat sort/pairing, some people got to match the sets to a set of dishes so when people come to grab them they can have a whole set. This location seemed a bit tighter space wise than the other location but it worked out for us spreading out. Staff were nice and helpful when we had questions.

I would tell them not to turn down wonderful pieces of furniture. I had a beautiful Bernhardt sofa…read morethat barely was used and they turned it down with a Thomas ville oak dining room table six chairs. They don't bother to even look at pictures and then ask you to pay for moving. With so many people without homes or furniture, how can they do that.

I came here to share my donation experience and how easy it was to coordinate with the staff at JC,…read morethey also helped me unload about 15-20 bags that I had gathered from a drive I was doing for the holidays. Being Born and raised in St Paul I am shocked I had no idea this non profit existed and was pleased to stumble upon it online while looking for places to donate. I love the concept of being able to have a dignified shopping experience for those in need hence why I chose JC to donate to. But I am disheartened by the reviews I am reading from folks in the community as I am biracial myself and have a biracial family. I truly hope that a Christian based non profit is not discriminating against people of color or mistreating those that are in need. I encourage you to listen to those expressing their experiences and concerns and for JC to do better moving forward.

Been donating there for years. and have seen many people receive great services by their team. I…read morethink this is an amazing organization that provides a really wonderful, humanizing program to a lot of people, and it's hard to see these other reviews. It's my hope that people continue to provide them with new and gently used clothes, homewares, makeup, haircare, and other goods that help people feel like the wonderful people of our community that they are. Everyone deserves some time away to shop for the things they need or better yet, the things they want, for themselves or their friends or family. Please give to this organization and drop in to see what they are all about. A store that operates for free for people to "buy" what they need and feel human, when so many people make them feel second class...this is a model many other organizations should adopt.

Such a great organization! They take donations (housewares, furniture, small…read moreelectronics/appliances, decor, etc.) and provide them to people to who are transitioning out of homelessness. We worked a special shift via Surly Gives a Damn, sorting hangers. But they do take groups of 5 or more to do projects such as putting furniture together, sorting utensils and linen and more. There's always work to be done. Shifts are 2-3 hrs long. The work was very chill. You got to pick what you wanted to do as well as they were very accommodating for example if you needed to sit while working or needed to take breaks. Diana was running things and she was such a great host! Made us feel welcomed & made sure to tell us about all the opportunities they have to volunteer and give back. She also offered tours of the warehouse after the shift was over. She said she's always looking for new volunteers, so if you are looking for opportunities, please check them out!!! They have 3 locations- Bloomington, Roseville & Plymouth-opening very soon.

Awesome experience! A perfect venue for a fun team building session or networking event for large…read moregroups, while simultaneously providing a service for our community. Location was inconvenient for me as it was a 45 minute drive, but the friendly and helpful staff, combined with their large and beautiful facilities made it worthwhile. Second Harvest Heartland was easy to work with. Their online reservation system made it easy to see which time slots could accommodate us. We were even able to use their large meeting room space to host a 2 hour lunch and networking event prior to our volunteering session. The large room included 2 screens for projecting presentations from your laptop, sound system with microphone and a strong and free WiFi. All of this was of great value to our group! As one of the leaders of Asian Professionals Alliance in MN (APAM), we brought together 70 volunteers from across APAM member companies: 3M, Best Buy, Cargill, General Mills, Medtronic, Target & US Bank. Not only was this venue large enough to accommodate our large group, they were so organized, gave us great instruction and constantly kept the workplace clean, comfortable. They had 6 computers at the entrance for each individual to register for the event. Half of our group boxed care packages for senior citizens while the other half worked to inspect and package 40 pound bags of potatoes for food shelves across the country. My favorite part is that they share the results of your volunteer efforts at the end of your shift. I would absolutely recommend this place for volunteering sessions - for individuals, small groups and large groups!

I had a lot of fun volunteering at second harvest. They are very organized. It's a lot of physical…read morework, but you get a lot done for a worthy cause. I've done two shifts so far and there are a few different projects depending on their needs. So it's not the same thing every time.

Love this place. Doing good for the community in a very cool way. I just got a beautiful affordable…read moreMid Century Modern Dresser from them- I just LOVE it. They were very responsive to my questions and communications online. 100% recommended for donating and purchasing for a good cause:)