MINNEAPOLIS RECREATION DEVELOPMENT INC
This organization has already been registered
Someone in your organization has already registered and setup an account. would you like to join their team?Profile owner : m*********s@g***l.c*m
Mission Statement
*Minneapolis Recreation Development, Inc. (DBA Love One Another Love One Another) is a 501(c)(3) Non-Profit organization that serves the homeless, poor, and disadvantaged families in the Twin Cities every night by providing food, clothing, personal care items, and on-the-street care and support. On any given night, there are over 10,000** homeless people in the Twin Cities metro area, including more than 3,000** children under age 17. The primary focus of LOA is to feed, and provide emergency assistance to as many of them as possible. **Wilder Research March 2019
About This Cause
LOA was founded in 1967 by Allan Law, a teacher in the Inner City Minneapolis Public School System for 32 years. Since its founding the Mission of LOA has been: "Love One Another" and the Guiding Principle is best captured in a quote by Hubert Humphrey: "Judge our society by how we care for our children and the disadvantaged." It began as an after school, weekend, and summertime program for Inner City Youth, but over the past 53 years the organization has grown and expanded in scope to include Four Core Programs: 1) Youth Builder: The Youth Builder Program was founded by Allan Law in 1967 to provide inner city youth with free after school, weekend, and summertime recreational activities. Over the years it evolved to also include personal development, educational, cultural, and community service activities. The focus was on preparing youth for the transition to middle and high school, and providing opportunities for advanced placement programming, college career exploration, and after school tutoring. The Youth Builder Program currently provides over 350 underprivileged children in need annually with backpacks filled with school supplies. Over the past 53 years, the Youth Builder Program has served over 15,000 at risk inner city youth and underprivileged children by providing school supplies, and help developing the foundational skills to enable them to achieve their full potential. 2) Scholarship Program: In 2016 LOA launched a Scholarship Program. Over the years, Allan Law has seen numerous lives remarkably transformed from homelessness, hopelessness, and poverty to self sufficiency through education. His long term goal for several years was for LOA to be able to help deserving people begin that journey. The new program is a Scholarship Fund focused on assisting homeless adults, and underprivileged youth begin pursuing a degree at local Community Colleges, and Technical Schools. 3) Samaritans Outreach: The Samaritans Outreach Program provides food and basic living necessities for the homeless, poor, underprivileged children, and their families. Responding to several calls for help each day, Allan makes multiple stops to deliver nonperishable food items, clothing, personal care kits, emergency funds, and on-the-street care and support to people in urgent need. For example, in 2019 LOA distributed more than 350,000 protein/nutrition bars to the homeless & hungry! We also provide referrals to agencies that help with housing, counseling, chemical dependency, job placement, financial aid, and healthcare. In addition, we provide short term funding for people in need of temporary housing. Temporary housing has become a critical need in the Twin Cities over the past 3 years, because homeless shelters are over capacity on most nights, and affordable rental housing has become scarce. In fact, a 2018 survey** reported that 26% of people experiencing homelessness (2,694) are unable to find shelter each night (up 56% vs. 2016)! We also provide more than 200 MTC bus tokens to homeless people living outside each night. Riding the bus provides them safe refuge from the city streets, and a place to escape inclement weather. We also distribute bus tokens for people without transportation to get to job interviews, and medical or counseling appointments. **Wilder Research March 2019 4) 363® Days Food Program: When he retired from teaching in 1999, Allan Law decided to expand his community outreach efforts. Due to the rapid growth in the number of people living below the poverty level, Allan began feeding the homeless and families in need on a daily basis, and the 363® Days Food Program became the cornerstone of that work. He initially received donated unsold bakery goods, and sandwiches from several stores and gas stations every night. In addition, some churches and organizations that were aware of LOA began to make and donate sandwiches. As a result of an incredible outpouring of donor support, for the past 13 years the 363 Days Food Program has received and distributed an average of more than 600,000 donated sandwiches annually to the homeless and hungry! Sandwiches are donated by over 500 community groups, churches, schools, individuals, and companies. In total, each year more than 8,000 individual volunteers participate in sandwich making events, ranging in age from 4 to 97 Years Old! LOA distributes over 1,600 sandwiches a night to the homeless and hungry living on the streets, along with help from 22 Twin Cities partner organizations that also serve the homeless, and individuals & families in urgent need. LOA's unique approach has evolved entirely from the compassion and vision of founder Allan Law. Over our 53 year history, he’s led its transformation from a small inner city youth program to an organization serving at risk youth and the homeless community, driven by 9000+ annual volunteers, that provides basic necessities for thousands, and over 1,000,000 servings of food annually. Since his retirement in 1999, Allan spends each night from 8pm to 11am driving the inner city streets of the Twin Cities in search of people to help. Making several stops each night, he provides urgently needed basic necessities and compassionate care to hundreds of people from the back of his minivan. Allan has spent his entire adult life devoted to helping inner-city youth, families, and the homeless find hope, through much-needed food, basic living necessities, participation in developmental activities, and the companionship help only a trusted friend and mentor can provide. His service has given hope to thousands of people throughout his more than 53 years of service. Allan founded LOA in 1967, and since then has personally volunteered more than 200,000 hours. Over the years he has received numerous awards, including the 2000 National “Jefferson Award for Public Service” presented at the U.S. Supreme Court. He has also received recognition from 3 U.S. Presidents for his Public Service. In 2014 Allan was honored to receive the Hometown Hero award from the City of Edina and the “Service above Self” Award from the Rotary Club of Minneapolis. He also received the “Master & Commander” Award from the Minneapolis Salvation Army Harbor Light Center. Results: The primary metrics we use to measure the success of Love One Another are fiscal efficiency, volunteer participation, and the total number of homeless people we serve annually. Operating on a budget of about $200,000, with in kind donations included the 4 programs of LOA deliver over $2,000,000 in annual support to those in need. In 2019 the 363 Days Food Program alone distributed more than 800,000 sandwiches, donated by more than 600 community groups, churches, schools, individuals, and companies. In total, more than 9,000 individual volunteers participated in sandwich making events. In addition, we serve thousands of people in need each year by distributing nonperishable food, clothing, and basic living items through our Samaritans Outreach Program, including over 1,500 pair of handmade wool Mittens donated by Mittens on a Mission. We also provide over 350 underprivileged children in need annually with new “Back to School” backpacks filled with school supplies. LOA is driven entirely by volunteers and no salaries have, or will ever be paid to anyone working for our organization. All donations are used for general operating expenses, or purchasing program specific items like bus tokens, clothing, and personal care items. LOA does not rent office space and has always been run out of Allan Law’s condominium and seven 12x30 rental storage rooms. Alan also maintains 17 freezers in his condominium to store sandwiches, along with 12 others located at volunteer drop sites throughout the Twin Cities. Summary: The current economic conditions have increased the number of individuals and families experiencing homelessness throughout the Twin Cities. In addition, affordable housing is in short supply, and most homeless shelters are at capacity every night. As a result, LOA’s primary focus continues to be on providing those most urgently in need with on-the-street care and support every night. While that remains our primary focus, LOA also provides referrals to agencies that help with housing, counseling, chemical dependency, job placement, financial aid, and medical care. Over the years, the initial steps facilitated by LOA have helped enable numerous at risk kids and homeless individuals begin the transformation towards leading happier, healthier, and more productive lives. That remains our ultimate goal.