Megan & Dennis Doyle

The old saying goes, One person’s trash is someone else’s treasure. But too often treasures, such as oranges, boxes of cereal, brand-new mattresses, and gently used laptops, end up in the trash as corporate surplus. Eight years ago, Megan and Dennis Doyle devised a way to make sure those treasures never made it to the trash heap, putting them to use to help corporations and the community. “People in business really want to help,” says Dennis, who is CEO of Welsh Companies. “You just have to make it easy for them.”

The Doyles started Hope for the City, an organization that draws on corporate donations and surplus to provide everything from food to toiletries to furniture for more than eighty nonprofit organizations around the Twin Cities. The charity collects goods from corporate sources and distributes them as needed from its 25,000-square-foot warehouse in St. Louis Park, which the Doyles aim to empty and refill each week.

Hope for the City now needs a staff of nine to keep up with the demand, but has still managed to maintain less than 2 percent overhead while providing $400 million worth of goods. “We can find a use for anything, anywhere,” says Megan, adding that they once turned a semi load of sandpaper into a donation for the area’s trade schools. “Nothing goes to waste, and we get it to the people who need it the most.”

The people and places that need it most include the Salvation Army, Urban Ventures, and countless schools, churches, and community centers. In the trunk of their squad cars, Hennepin County sheriffs even carry boxes of “Food for a Day” meals for a family of four and hand them out when they see a need—all provided by Hope for the City. After achieving local success, the Doyles decided to branch out and are now sending medical supplies and refurbished medical equipment as well as food and other necessities to more than twenty countries.

What’s next? The world of emergency after-care, where Hope is extending that same surplus-driven, low-overhead model to help victims of natural disasters—such as last year’s flooding in southeastern Minnesota—providing appliances, household goods, and whatever else may be needed.

“In the end, when you ask what Hope for the City is, it’s a network,” Dennis says.

“It’s a strong network,” adds Megan, “And we have faith that when the warehouse is emptied, it will get filled again.”