Twin Cities broadcasters join to 'Feed the Cities'

April 16th, 2020

MINNEAPOLIS -- Now, more than ever, institutions around the state of Minnesota are preaching unity in this time of coronavirus under the shared banner of #OneMN.

As part of that consolidated effort and message, six professional sports teams around the Twin Cities -- the Twins, Vikings, Wild, Timberwolves, Lynx and Minnesota United FC -- jointly announced the "Feed the Cities - Voices of Minnesota Sports" initiative on Thursday in conjunction with FOX Sports North and KFAN FM 100.3.

Fans will be able to request personalized video messages from Minnesota sports broadcasters through the Cameo platform for a minimum donation of $30. Proceeds from the initiative, which runs through April 30, will be donated to the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Twin Cities, Greater Twin Cities United Way and Second Harvest Heartland. Direct donations are also accepted at this link or by texting ONEMN to 243725.

The Twins will be represented by FOX Sports North play-by-play broadcaster Dick Bremer, Treasure Island Baseball Network radio play-by-play broadcaster Cory Provus, television analyst Roy Smalley, and pregame and postgame radio host Kris Atteberry. FOX Sports North sideline reporters Marney Gellner, Audra Martin and Kevin Gorg are also included among the personalities.

They are joined by Ryan Carter, Anthony LaPanta, Tom Reid and Wes Walz (Wild); Dave Benz, Rebekkah Brunson, Jim Petersen and Annie Sabo (Timberwolves/Lynx); Paul Allen, Pete Bercich, Greg Coleman and Ben Leber (Vikings); and Kyndra de St. Aubin, Dan Terhaar and Callum Williams (Minnesota United).

According to their website, the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Twin Cities are working to address food insecurities in the community due to work disruptions and school closures through their "Family Meal Kits" program. They have already fed 660 families with 13,200 dinner meals by distributing boxes of presorted meal components that are enough to provide five dinners for a family of four.

Greater Twin Cities United Way has started the Greater Twin Cities COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund, which provides financial assistance to the community for food, shelter, child care and hygiene supplies. They are targeting those most vulnerable to the COVID-19 pandemic and the surrounding issues, including people experiencing poverty. According to its website, $3.25 million has been contributed to the fund to date.

Second Harvest Heartland is a food bank organization that has worked to respond to a need for meals that it says has more than doubled due to the pandemic. It is providing emergency food boxes, prepared meals and food stamp access, and it has delivered 5.7 million pounds of food in the last month as part of its coronavirus response, according to its website.

In addition to their efforts with Feed the Cities, the Twins are also participating in the league-wide "Home Plate Project" to address childhood hunger around the nation due to the coronavirus pandemic in partnership with musician Garth Brooks' "Teammates for Kids Foundation" and "Big League Impact," led by Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright and former Twins right-hander Kyle Gibson.

As part of that project, players reached out to each other to collect donations to raise $937,100 to provide over 4 million meals to children. Marwin Gonzalez was the Twins' player ambassador in the efforts.