Bridging-Central Minnesota

Closes June 1, 2008

Managing Non-Profits

By Ron Osterbauer, Executive Director

As news of the economy headlines our news daily, non-profits are not immune from economic downturns.  Belt tightening not only affects individuals but also non-profits who juggle the demand for increased services as well as increased costs of operations.

After reviewing our St. Cloud operations, we have decided to  close our Sauk Rapids warehouse when our lease expires on June 30th.  This decision is an opportunity for Bridging to focus our efforts in our twin cities operations where demand is on the increase.  The Operations Committee of the Board has been discussing the idea of a Virtual Bridging, an e-commerce system of service for other areas of the state without the physical start up costs, leasing of space and staffing of additional facilities. 

On average, our Central Minnesota facility was serving 10 to 12 families per week.  Central Minnesota was Bridging’s first attempt to operate a satellite facility which originally was designed to distribute surplus inventory.  With the start up of Roseville in November of 2006, donated inventory is now redistributed as the demand for appointments has increased to 50 families per week in Roseville.  Staff has developed a plan to increase appointments to 70 families per week starting July 1in Roseville which will be at the same level as Bloomington.  Central Minnesota agencies will still be able to refer clients to our Bloomington or Roseville locations.

This move allows us to continue service to the region while reducing our monthly operational obligations by $10,000 to $15,000 per month.  It also will provide more efficient use of our Bloomington and Roseville facilities.  The delivery service which we fully implemented in January allows Bridging to begin looking at more efficient means of operations which will benefit our agencies and their clients in a time of tightening budgets.

A big "Thank You" to our friends Larry and Russ Schneiderman, Schneiderman’s Furniture, for their advertising campaign to help Bridging meet the needs of the Families we serve. View the commercial - click here.

SUBWAY® Bedrace for Bridging

Event website: www.subwaybedrace.org. 

The Tenth Annual SUBWAY® BEDRACE FOR BRIDGING, presented by Cities 97 in partnership with Slumberland Furniture took off at Buck Hill Saturday, March 8, 2008, at 6:00 p.m.  Teams of four were invited to race down the tubing hill atop queen-sized mattresses.  147 teams raced down the hill and raised over $91,000 to purchase 900 beds.

Watch the You Tube video from the 2006 race at Buck Hill.

View photos from the 2008 Bedrace for Bridging.

SUBWAY® Bring A Blanket for Bridging

Collection sets new record for number of blankets collected for Bridging families.

December 11, 2007 – The SUBWAY® Bring a Blanket drive was held Sunday, December 9, 2007.  Due to the generosity of Minnesotans and Wisconsinites, over 365 local SUBWAY® restaurants collected nearly 12,000 blankets in one day; exceeding the stated goal of 10,000.  The blankets will be distributed throughout 2008 by Bridging, Inc. to their clients.

View complete post release (PDF)

V iew the 30 second Promotional Video.