Fargo Café Wins $25K to Feed 2,000 Neighbors in Need

Heart-n-Soul Community Café in Fargo just won Gate City Bank's $25,000 Giving Hearts Day contest, and every dollar will go toward feeding neighbors who need it most.

The nonprofit fights food insecurity with a simple but powerful model: serve locally grown food and let people pay what they can. Some pay full price. Others pay nothing. Everyone eats with dignity.

Founder Leola Daul says the $25,000 will fund 2,000 meals through their mobile café, rolling into neighborhoods where connection matters as much as food. "This gift keeps the food truck rolling into neighborhoods that need connection just as much as they need nourishment," Daul said.

The mobile café reaches people who might not make it to a traditional food pantry. It serves the mother quietly asking for extra portions for her kids at home, the senior on a fixed income who hasn't shared a meal with anyone in weeks, and the young adult who stops by because someone there will actually listen.

Gate City Bank chose Heart-n-Soul from a pool of finalists after the community submitted nominations during Giving Hearts Day, a 24-hour fundraising event that has powered North Dakota and northwestern Minnesota charities since 2008. This year's nomination period pushed the bank's total nominations past 1 million since tracking began in 2017.

The Ripple Effect

Gate City Bank's commitment extends far beyond one contest winner. The bank contributed more than $230,000 to Giving Hearts Day this year through sponsorships, matching donations from team members, and direct gifts to over 200 charities. Since 2014, they've donated more than $2.4 million and supported over 350 charities through the event.

Amanda Torok, the bank's senior vice president of culture, says the response shows what communities really want. "People want to help, and we love giving people a simple yet impactful way to support the causes that matter most to them," she said.

For Daul, the funding represents something bigger than meals served. It supports moments where people remember they belong, where they're reminded they matter, where they're welcomed exactly as they are.

When a food truck rolls into your neighborhood and someone asks how you're doing and actually waits for the answer, that's not just charity—that's community.