Karen Vetsch, a volunteer a the Minnehaha food shelf helps clients choose food
BY STEPHANIE FOX
The number of people around the country, and in Minnesota, who find the need to seek out foods shelves has grown every year. In 2023, more than seven million Minnesotans visited local food shelves, up two million the year before. Last year, the numbers were up again. Organizations are working hard to fulfill the need, operating nearly 600 sites around Minneapolis, many in South Minneapolis. Different groups have varying strategies on how to try to meet the need.
Step inside Minnehaha United Methodist Church on a Tuesday morning and you’ll join the more than 6,000 people a month who come to the food shelf. Food Shelf director George Gallagher, who has been doing this work for 25 years, says the need has grown 300 percent during the last two years. “We distribute 240 pounds of goods each month,” he said. “Our monthly bill is about $4,000.”
Gallagher said he’s spent his life in groceries, from a first job bagging groceries and later, managing a Country Club Market. More recently, he served as the director of the Emergency Food Shelf Network. He’s now at the Minnehaha food shelf and he said, “I do this work because I like it.” His job at the food shelf includes organizing the food deliveries and working with the 35 volunteers, many bilingual, who help clients choose their food and carry it from the basement to the sidewalks outside. New volunteers are welcome.
Fresh vegetables are one of the foods clients can choose
This food shelf gets some of their foods from the nearby Oxendale’s Grocery store and some bakery products from Panera Bread, but most of their food from Second Harvest Heartland and other food programs, including the Federal Emergency Food Program. “The stuff from Second Harvest isn’t free and we survive on donations. The food shelf isn’t as well stocked as it once was, Gallagher said.
“For a lot of people, the food shelf is a staple,” he said. “It used to be a band aide and now it’s a necessity. This season has been an unusually demanding time. SNAP (food stamps) has been cut back. It takes a while for the money to trickle down and service the people who need it.”
Their biggest client group are newly arrived Ecuadorians, but the food shelf is starting to get more people from Argentina. They also serve 30 households with the Healthy Seniors program where members can arrive on Tuesday distribution day at 9 a.m., an hour before the doors open for other clients. The seniors can also arrange for their food to be delivered to their home, if that’s needed.
Marna Jocobi, a Minnehaha Food Shelf volunteer works to help those in need of groceries
Minnehaha United Methodist Church is located at 3701 East 50th Street, Minneapolis.
Harvest from the Heart, a food shelf located at Incarnation Catholic Church, calls itself a food rescue food shelf. The food they distribute is donated by local grocery stores, much of it soon-to-expire, but still good to eat. That means that clients are more likely to find produce, bread, dairy products, eggs and grab-to-go items, than food shelf stables like canned goods that other places carry. There are no appointments. “Just show up and wait in line,” clients are told. Once inside, shoppers can choose what they need from the shelves, said food shelf director Chris Pangle, giving the impression that this is a grocery store, not a charity.
The food shelf began in 1983, one of the oldest free distribution centers in the city. In 2021, the food shelf moved from the basement of the church rectory to a converted four-car garage where it now distributes food to anyone in need. In their first year at the new location, they distributed 450 tons directly donated of food. Harvest from the Heart is a leader in keeping hunger from the neighborhood.
But, now Harvest from the Heart, like most food shelves, is facing hard times. Director Chris Pangle says that some days they are finding it hard to keep up with demand. To cope, while clients could once visit as often as they needed to avoid hunger, they are now asked to limit their visits to once a week.
Harvest from the Heart worker gets food ready to distribute
He doesn’t know when things might get better, he said. But he hopes things will change soon. “The need is great,” he said. Last year, the organization served 42,000 families, more than any other food shelf in South Minneapolis.
Harvest from the Heart is located at 3801 Pleasant Ave. and is open Tuesday through Saturday.
Food shelves aren’t just for people. One organization, The Bond Between, is a small food shelf letting people who have fallen on hard times keep their best (furry) friends by offering pet food, collars, leashes, pet toys and more.
“Some people will say, ‘it’s just a dog’, said Nick Stewart, the organization’s program coordinator. “But for a lot of people, dogs and cats are a lifeline. They keep people happy when times are tough.”
Steward finds his work rewarding, sometimes even emotionally touching. “One of the things I really remember was a woman came in saying that her cat was not neutered and had a litter of kittens. She was overwhelmed.” After Bond Between was able to help her, said Stewart, she started crying happy tears. “She pulled me toward her and hugged me. I’ll never forget this.”
At the pet food shelf
The Bond Between started as a pet rescue group, Secondhand Hounds, which rescued more than 29,000 animals. Another organization, People and Pets Together, began by passing out bags of pet food after the tornado came through North Minneapolis in 2011, when grocery stores and pet stores were shuttered. The Bond Between absorbed People and Pets in 2023. That year, the group distributed nearly 340,000 pounds of dog food, cat food and cat litter, helping an average of 2,300 animals every month.
“We get more dogs than cats and we also help small critters like gerbils and guinea pigs,” he said.
Not everyone can shop at The Bond Between. Shoppers must be receiving some kind of government assistance, such as government disability, EBT, be on social security or be age 65 and older. Tribal members are also welcomed. Volunteers who help at the food shelf for six or more months can become clients, too. Shoppers living in Minneapolis can shop every 30 days and those living outside the city can come in only every six months.
Stewart says the group can use contributions, including supplies and monetary donations. “And, if anyone is interested in volunteering, we’d love to have you.”
The shelf is open to clients on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 5:30 until 7:45 p.m. and on Saturday morning, opening at 9:30 a.m. until 1:45 p.m. The small food shelf was once located on Bloomington Ave., but is now located at 2501 Minnehaha Ave.
