Second Harvest Heartland is a Minnesota-based nonprofit that claims to advocate policies and other initiatives to combat poverty, increase the number of food banks, and provide food assistance programs to those in need. ¹

The group’s CEO Allison O’Toole, a former state director for U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), was reported on the organization’s tax returns to have received annual compensation of approximately $721,000 in 2022, leading to criticism from state lawmakers. O’Toole announced she would resign by June 2025. ^{1 2 3}

Activities

Second Harvest Heartland is a Minnesota-based nonprofit group that claims to advocate and promote policies that combat poverty, increase the number of food bank services, and aid those in need in enrolling in food-assistance programs. ^{1 4}

Second Harvest Heartland claims to have a network of roughly 1,000 partner programs. Partner organizations include local churches and food banks, including local affiliates of Catholic Charities and the Salvation Army, as well as other nonprofit organizations. ^{5 6}

Second Harvest Heartland is a member of Feeding America, a U.S. -based charity that focuses on hunger relief. ¹

Leadership

As of April 2025, Second Harvest Heartland’s website claims the incoming CEO of the group will be Sarah Moberg, the group’s chief operating officer, who will begin as CEO in June 2025. Before becoming COO in 2021, Moberg previously worked as senior director of innovation, technology, and quality for General Mills. ^{2 7}

Prior to Moberg, Allison O’Toole worked as the CEO of the group. Previously, O’Toole was the senior director of state affairs for United States of Care; the chief executive officer of MNsure; the director of Himle Rapp & Company; the state director for Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN); the chief deputy in the Carvery County Attorney’s Office; a community relations coordinator for the Minnesota Department of Health, the Minnesota Department of Education, and the Minnesota Smoke Free Coalition; a special assistant for the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office; and a fundraiser for the Humphrey for governor campaign in Minnesota. Following reports in April 2025 that O’Toole received a salary of $721,000 a year, she announced she planned to resign from the organization in June with Moberg set to take her place. ^{3 2}

Controversy

According to tax filings, in 2022 Second Harvest Heartland CEO Allison O’Toole received $684,400 in salary. Adding in benefits and deferred compensation, O’Toole received $721,097. Other senior officers in the organization received high salaries as well, including the chief financial officer ($362,761), chief operations officer Sarah Moberg ($344,657), and the chief development officer ($330,548). ⁸

In April 2025, Second Harvest Heartland was criticized for excessive staff salaries during hearings by the Minnesota state House Ways and Means Committee. Following this, O’Toole announced her intention to resign as CEO while the group’s chief operations officer, Sarah Moberg, was announced as the interim chief executive officer. The communications director for Second Harvest Heartland later stated that O’Toole’s departure had been pre-planned and was not in response to the criticism. ^{9 2}

Financials

According to tax filings, in 2022 Second Harvest Heartland reported $260,459,497 in revenue, $254,670,313 in expenses, and $108,099,013 in assets. Of those expenses, $212,404,432 were spent on the organization’s food bank, including $167,984,780 distributed to partner program food banks; $9,327,086 was spent on community outreach to promote the organization’s programming; $9,572,605 was spent on fresh food sourcing efforts; and $5,533,003 was spent providing food banks for senior citizens. Of the organization’s revenue, 2.4% ($6,093,617) was derived from government grants and over 87% ($227,802,676) was derived from other gifts and grants. ⁸

1. “About Us.” Second Harvest Heartland. Accessed April 14, 2025. https://www.2harvest.org/about-us.
2. Gloeb, Jenna. “Minnesota food bank CEO steps down as legislators question her $721k salary.” Alpha News. April 2, 2025. Accessed April 14, 2025. https://alphanews.org/minnesota-food-bank-ceo-steps-down-as-legislators-question-her-721k-salary/.
3. “Allison O’Tool (She/Her).” LinkedIn. Accessed April 14, 2025. https://www.linkedin.com/in/allisonotoole/details/experience/.
4. “Second Harvest Heartland.” Forbes. Accessed April 14, 2025. https://www.forbes.com/companies/second-harvest-heartland/.
5. “Programs & Services. Second Harvest Heartland. Accessed April 14, 2025. https://www.2harvest.org/about-us/programs-services
6. “Agency Partners.” Second Harvest Heartland. Accessed April 14, 2025. https://www.2harvest.org/about-us/agency-partners/list-agency-partners.
7. “Sarah Moberg.” LinkedIn. Accessed April 14, 2025. https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-moberg-a8881910/.
8. Second Council USA. Return of an Organization Exempt From Income Tax (Form 990-N). 2022.
9. Fitsgerald, Kilat. “Second Harvest Heartland CEO stepping down in June.” Fox9. April 4, 2025. Accessed April 24, 2025. https://www.fox9.com/news/second-harvest-heartland-ceo-leaving-june.