MANKATO, MN (June 8, 2016) – Feeding Our Communities Partners (FOCP) is pleased to welcome Sheri Sander-Silva as its new executive director. Sander-Silva joins the organization after serving as associate director of the YWCA, where she worked for the past 14 years.
 
“I have long admired the work of FOCP and the important role it serves within our community,” said Sander-Silva. “I am incredibly excited to join the organization in serving its mission to end hunger locally. I look forward to continuing the momentum that has already been built by this amazing organization to create lasting social change.”
 
Sander-Silva is an experienced non-profit leader with over a decade of proven experience in building and sustaining quality programming that fulfills unmet community needs. In her most recent role at the YWCA, she managed organizational operations, finances, marketing, human resources, fundraising activities, and programming for girls.
 
FOCP runs the BackPack Food Program which discreetly provides low-income students with packs of well-balanced, child-friendly meals to take home for weekends and other scheduled days off from school. “We are so pleased to have Sheri on board,” said incoming board chair, DeeDra Vosburg. “Her skill set and passion for doing good in the community are sure to be a winning combination for FOCP.”

 
Sander-Silva has developed and directed several programs and led the integration of the national Girls on the Run and Girls Inc. programs into the Greater Mankato community. She is the current board chair of Leisure Education for Exceptional People (LEEP), is a board member of Project for Teens (P4T) and Dream Closet, serves on several committee/focus groups, and actively volunteers for other area organizations. One of Sheri’s favorite mottos is “Do what you love and love what you do.”
 
 Sander-Silva will begin her new role at FOCP in mid-July.

MANKATO, MN (June 3, 2016) - Archer Daniels Midland Company recently donated $6,000 to Feeding Our Communities Partners (FOCP). The donation will go toward funding the BackPack Food Program.
 
”This kind of support allows us to feed hungry tummies on the weekend so that teachers can feed their minds on Monday morning,” said Kristin Weeks-Duncanson, FOCP board chair. “This grant helps us to maintain the program and to be a source of hunger-relief for the students who rely on it.”
 
The BackPack Food Program discreetly provides low-income students with packs of well-balanced, child-friendly meals to take home for weekends and scheduled school breaks. Launched in March 2010, enrollment currently exceeds 940 students at all fifteen public elementary schools in Blue Earth County and North Mankato. During the 2015-16 school year, the program was able scale its reach to include the three additional school districts of Mapleton, St. Clair, and Lake Crystal.
 
The donation was given through ADM Cares. ADM Cares is a social investment program that directs funds to initiatives and organizations that drive meaningful social, economic and environmental progress worldwide. The program comprises three distinct focus areas: supporting the responsible development of agriculture, improving the quality of life in ADM communities and fostering employee giving and volunteer activities.