MN food bank CEO steps down: lawmakers question $721K salary

Second Harvest Heartland defended its executive compensation and financial stewardship, but some legislators are concerned by the ‘out of control’ salaries at nonprofits requesting public dollars.

By Jenna Gloeb, Alpha News – April 2, 2025

Minnesota’s hunger crisis is growing—and apparently so is the appetite for big executive pay at one of the state’s top food nonprofits.

Allison O’Toole, CEO of Second Harvest Heartland, earned $721,000 in total compensation in 2022—even as the nonprofit has lobbied for taxpayer funding and warned of rising hunger across Minnesota, where 26% of households with children are food insecure, according to its own research.

Now, as O’Toole steps down after six years at the helm, lawmakers are raising questions.

Concerns first raised during legislative hearing

Rep. Pam Altendorf, R-Red Wing, told Alpha News that O’Toole’s salary issue first surfaced during a recent “food day” at the Capitol, when food shelf representatives, including O’Toole, testified before the House Children and Families Committee.

“Rep. Bjorn Olson pulled the 990 [tax form] and shared Allison O’Toole’s salary with our committee members right before she testified,” Altendorf said. “That’s when the questions started.”

Rep. Marion Rarick, R-Maple Lake, later raised the issue during a March 17 House committee hearing where a DFL lawmaker questioned why a GOP bill was reducing funding for Second Harvest Heartland in a proposed agriculture budget.

“It looks like the base funding for Second Harvest Heartland is $3.4 million and you reduce it by $900,000 in both the first biennium and the tails,” said Rep. Zack Stephenson, DFL-Coon Rapids.

But Rarick said she thinks the organization “can handle it.”

“They do have a $260 million, that’s their gross revenue,” she said during the hearing. “What’s even more interesting, I think, is that their CEO, their top person, makes $721,000. Yeah, $721,000 is the top person … and they have 10 people that make more than the governor, which is more than $150,000. So that’s well over $2.6 million in their highest-paid people.”

About a week after the salary figures were brought up at the committee hearing, Second Harvest announced O’Toole’s resignation.

Altendorf said days later, Second Harvest lobbyists pulled both her and Rarick off the House floor for a private hallway meeting. At the time, Altendorf’s tweet highlighting O’Toole’s salary had received more than 65,000 views.

“I reassured them that no one questions the need for food banks in Minnesota,” Altendorf said. “But now that this has been exposed, everyone is questioning why an organization that claims to be a nonprofit is paying its CEO nearly a million per year. This is disgusting and incomprehensible to the average person who’s living paycheck to paycheck.”

Millions in revenue, taxpayer funds

Records show Second Harvest brought in roughly $260 million in total revenue in 2022—with over $6 million coming from government grants, according to a report in the American Experiment.

And it’s not just O’Toole earning well into the six figures at the food shelf.

Several executives at Second Harvest earn over $300,000 annually, with at least seven staffers making between $140,000 to $280,000 per year, according to the 2022 tax records.

Despite the high salaries, Second Harvest Heartland has maintained a strong presence at the Capitol this session, requesting public funding to address what it calls record-breaking demand for food assistance.

Altendorf also pointed to what she sees as a deeper issue. She says the nonprofit hired a “voter engagement coordinator” in 2024 to conduct get-out-the-vote efforts—something she calls “a huge conflict of interest” for an organization receiving taxpayer dollars.

“The public is waking up to the money funneling system happening within the Minnesota state government,” Altendorf said. “And I’m hearing loud and clear—taxpayers have had enough.”

O’Toole, who previously led MNsure during its rollout and served as state director for U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, was hired by Second Harvest in 2019, according to reports.

The organization’s Chief Operating Officer, Sarah Moberg, will serve as the interim CEO while a national search is conducted for O’Toole’s replacement. Records show Moberg’s annual salary is listed as roughly $370,000.

Second Harvest defends pay, says public funding doesn’t cover salaries

In a statement to Alpha News, Second Harvest Heartland defended its executive compensation and financial stewardship, stressing that none of its state funding goes toward administrative costs or staff salaries.

“Second Harvest Heartland is independently audited each year. Our latest report confirms that 92.5 cents of every dollar we spend goes toward food and hunger relief programming, with only 3.6% of our budget dedicated to general and administrative expense – which includes compensation,” stated communications director Mike Stephenson.

“Last year, government contracts made up roughly 2% of our $315 million annual budget, with $1.7 million coming from the state of Minnesota, all of which was designated for direct food spending,” he added.

The organization also pointed to its size and scope—distributing more than 167 million pounds of food last year across a network of more than 1,000 partners—as justification for offering competitive wages to attract and retain talent in the fight against hunger.

Stephenson added that O’Toole’s departure had been part of a planned leadership transition and was not in response to recent criticism.

PHOTO: Left: Rep. Marion Rarick; Right: CEO of Second Harvest Heartland Alisson O’Toole | Minnesota House Info/YouTube