Second Harvest Food Drive 2019 Gets Competitive and Breaks TSI Records

The TSI food drive started out quietly. Large boxes appeared in the Shoreview location cafeterias and donations started trickling in. Then, Engineering Project Manager I Liz Schlesky in the Controlled Environments department issued a challenge to the other engineering teams. She threw down the gauntlet in an email that said, "We think we can bring in more items than YOU for the food drive!" 

Liz's challenge triggered a race to the finish among the engineering teams, who competed feverishly to fill the donation boxes by the November 15 deadline.

The results

Food donations from all departments piled up and overflowed the boxes. Altogether, TSI collected 959 items, from baby food to coffee to canned goods. It took two large vehicles to deliver it all to the Second Harvest Heartland center in Maplewood. The Second Harvest team weighed the TSI donations and confirmed that the company contributed 1027 pounds, which is TSI's personal best.

And Liz's team? Despite collecting 131 food items, they lost out on bragging rights to three high-achieving departments and had to settle for 4th place. In addition to the donations from engineering, 130 items came in from other TSI departments. 

Top 3 donors to TSI's 2019 Second Harvest Heartland Food Drive:

1. DICKEY-john - 282 items
2. Sourcing, Quality & Advanced Manufacturing - 233 items
3. Research & Analytics - 183 items

Thanks to all who contributed and participated—and get ready for an even bigger success next year!

Learn more about Second Harvest Heartland on their website, https://www.2harvest.org/