Like many nonprofit organizations, The Sanneh Foundation has been significantly impacted by the global health crisis which has caused many organizations to unfortunately cut staff. However, this summer we found ourselves in a unique position as this season we experienced our largest workforce yet. Choosing not to shutter our operations, we instead shifted our focus to providing our community with the crucial resources and support it needed. We transitioned from being primarily focused on after school support to being one of the largest free food distributors in our local community. But, we could not have accomplished this work without the tireless dedication of our staff and volunteers. Our more than 75 summer staff contributed over 16,000 hours of their time to our operations. Our staff members came to us from a variety of different backgrounds and organizations, serving in an assortment of positions, including:

8 AmeriCorps Emergency Response Members (Reading and Math Corps)

9 Right Track Members

11 U LEAD/Hired Ramsey County Workers

7 Step Up Members 

7 Up2Us Sports Summer VISTAs

2 UofM interns

1 Sanneh intern

Through these added positions from our partners, we reached a total of  75 summer staff who were critical to our summer operations. As a part of our workforce development program, we partnered with organizations like Ramsey County’s U LEAD and AmeriCorps. The Sanneh Foundation found commonality with these organizations because their goals aligned with our mission to connect individuals with opportunities to serve their communities. When we team up with groups like Up2Us, who share our desire to use sports as a tool to engage with communities, we combine our separate resources and passions to make a much larger impact than we could each make alone.

Our shift to providing COVID resources did not stop our usual operations. We continued to provide summer camp opportunities to our local youth with the added security of safety restrictions. Our coaches taught over 5 weeks of sports camps, teaching kids the fundamentals of soccer. Our Summer Splash staff operated a summer day camp with daily activities such as arts and crafts, board games, and physical activities like baseball. Lastly, our food distribution staff worked to pack and deliver thousands of pounds of food to struggling families and individuals. Overall, each one of our staff worked hard in their respective positions. 

Those who were working specifically, with our food service program, have a lot to show for their hard work and effort:

Total Number of Individuals Served: 66,277

Total LBS of Produce Distributed: 713,257 lbs

Total Staff Hours:  8,617 hrs

June 2020—August 2020

Towards the end of August, we celebrated the end of summer programming and said goodbye to some of our summer staff with a community barbecue where we gathered to eat, socialize, and celebrate our accomplishments. We are thankful for the staff who power our organization. The Sanneh Foundation could not function at its fullest capacity without them.

Check out our Newsletter to find out more about what happened at The Sanneh Foundation this summer:

Sanneh Summer Newsletter 2020