Minneapolis Recreation Development Inc

Love One Another: Make a Real Difference 363 Days a Year!

Organization & Mission: Love One Another* is a 501(c)(3) Non-Profit organization that serves the homeless, poor, and disadvantaged families in the Twin Cities every night by providing food, clothing, personal care items, and on-the-street care and support. On any given night, there are an estimated 10,000 homeless people in the Twin Cities metro area, including 3,000 children under age 17. The primary focus of LOA is to feed, and provide emergency assistance to as many of them as possible. LOA was founded in 1967 by Allan Law, a teacher in the Inner City Minneapolis Public School System for 32 years. Since its founding the Mission of LOA has been: "Love One Another" and the Guiding Principle is best captured in a quote by Hubert Humphrey: "Judge our society by how we care for our children and the disadvantaged." It began as an after school, weekend, and summertime program for Inner City Youth, but over the past 51 years the organization has grown and expanded in scope to include Four Core Programs.  

Our Founder: LOA's unique approach has evolved entirely from the compassion and vision of founder Allan Law. Over our 51 year history, he’s led its transformation from a small inner city youth program to an organization serving at risk youth and the homeless community, driven by 8000+ annual volunteers, that provides basic necessities for thousands, and over 550,000 servings of food annually. Since his retirement in 1999, Allan spends each night from 9pm to 10am driving the inner city streets of the Twin Cities in search of people to help. Making as many as 50 stops a night, he provides urgently needed basic necessities and compassionate care to hundreds of people from the back of his minivan. Allan founded LOA in 1967, and since then has personally volunteered more than 190,000 hours. Over the years he has received numerous awards, including the 2000 National “Jefferson Award for Public Service” presented at the U.S. Supreme Court. He has also received recognition from 3 U.S. Presidents for his Public Service.

Sandwiches and Starfish: Over the past several years LOA was fortunate to receive extraordinary media coverage that offers unique insights into our history, and the homeless community we serve with the incredible support of our donors. In 2014 Allan Law “The Sandwich Man” was honored to be featured in the award winning documentary "The Starfish Throwers" by Twin Cities filmmaker Jesse Roesler, which highlighted three individuals in the world leading efforts to fight hunger in their communities.

Our Impact: Operating on a budget of less than $170,000, with in kind donations included the 3 programs of LOA deliver over $1,500,000 in support annually to those in need. In 2017 the 363 Days Food Program alone distributed more than 800,000 sandwiches, donated by more than 600 community groups, churches, schools, individuals, and companies. In total, more than 9,000 individual volunteers participated in sandwich making events. In addition, we serve thousands of people in need each year distributing non-food basic living items through our Samaritans Outreach Program, including over 1,500 pair of handmade wool Mittens donated by volunteers from Mittens on a Mission. We also provide over 200 underprivileged children in need annually with new backpacks filled with school supplies, school clothing, and funding for field trips. 

*Minneapolis Recreation Development, Inc: DBA Love One Another