The Fridley Minnesota Lions Club signed an agreement with Open Arms Of Minnesota to not only deliver but also pay for the majority of the cost of the meals. Open Arms will prepare the meals in their state of the art facility at 2500 Bloomington Ave So. in Minneapolis and deliver them to St. Philips Lutheran Church in Fridley, where the Lions will pick them up and deliver them to clients in Fridley. Bud Dauphin, from Schaaf Floral and a Fridley Lion, is Chairman of the Lions Committee for distributing the meals. Ron Ackerman, former President of St. Philips congregation assisted in working out the details with the three entities. Dan Gourde, the Fridley Lions Treasurer and Tom Bourque, the Lions President are among the Lions volunteers who will be delivering the meals.
It’s a simple notion: people who are sick should not be without food. Yet every day people with life-threatening illnesses find themselves unable to shop or cook and often without the support network to help.
Open Arms of Minnesota cooks and delivers free, nutritious meals to people living with life-threatening and chronic illness in the Twin Cities.
With the help of more than 5,000 volunteers, half a million delicious meals will be delivered this year to people living with cancer, HIV/AIDS, multiple sclerosis and ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease), as well as their caregivers and dependents.
Open Arms is unique in its phenomenal community of donors and volunteers, the folks who work every day to nourish and sustain people living with illness in the Twin Cities.
Lions Ron Ackerman, Bud Dauphin, Tom Bourque and Dan Gourde presented the check to April Bogard at the Open Arms Center. “We truly consider it a pleasure to be involved with Open Arms in delivering meals to our neighbors in Fridley with these serious illnesses.” Lion President Tom Bourque stated.
The four Lions delivered the final payment of $10,000 to April Bogard, Open Arms Senior Director of Programs. “We are so happy and excited to be able to expand our service with the help of these dedicated Lions from Fridley.” Bogard explained. Delivery of meals will begin on Tuesday, June 7th.