Food is medicine.
Every action creates a reaction – that’s why our iMPact team chooses to find activities and organizations that will help improve the community in ways that extend beyond our everyday expertise and into a realm much bigger than us.
In September of 2016, iSpace and MSpace teams ventured out to Open Arms of Minnesota with only a few skilled cooks, but a wealth of good intentions. We knew that helping this organization was going to bring to the table (ok, pun sort of intended) nutrition for those struggling with severe illnesses and that our help preparing these meals would involve some skills unrelated to furniture & technology solutions. Once we arrived and got the well-defined orientation from the staff, we realized that we were in for so much more. We knew that what we were doing wasn’t just about supporting a system to deliver food (ps. the recipes are serious good), but it was supporting a sustainable system. Not only does Open Arms MN offer AND deliver free meals to people living with life-threatening illnesses, but they offer these meals to the families of these warriors too. We discovered that Open Arms of Minnesota has established several urban farms for growing some of their resources and can literally bring nutrition from farm to table – contributing to a full circle of sustainability.
So naturally, our team didn’t hesitate to jump right in, first by washing our hands to the “Happy Birthday” song for maximum sanitation and then proudly throwing on the Open Arms branded aprons that didn’t look half bad on us. In competitive mode, we divided our teams into assembly lines, chopping potatoes, portioning out salads, slapping down labels and vacuum-packing meals that we knew were going to people that would appreciate them more than we could possibly imagine. So even the humiliation of hairnets was worth the days activities knowing that we could help out our fellow humans.
We would highly encourage you to take some time out of your life to volunteer in either their kitchen, on deliveries or even one of the open farms!
