Mission, Vision, & History
Mission
To provide healthy meals to Minnesotans in areas where the need is greatest.
Vision
We are guided by our vision that all people – regardless of socioeconomic, cultural, religious, or ethnic background – deserve to meet their basic needs for food, dignity, and respect.
History
Our experience with serving food-insecure Minnesotans began over 40 years ago. In 1982 we opened two dining sites: one in Minneapolis and one in St. Paul. We now serve meals and rescue food in Aitkin, Anoka, Carver, Cass, Dakota, Hennepin, Lake, LeSueur, Ramsey, Scott, Sherburne, Stearns, St. Louis, Washington, and Wright counties and continue to expand into Greater Minnesota. Some of the major milestones in our organization’s history include:
2013
Expanded our mission to include a focus on nutrition.
Launched our Food Rescue and Street Outreach Programs.
2015
2018
Became Minnesota’s first and only redistributor of Second Harvest Heartland food.
Launched the HUB program.
Surpassed a Million Meals Milestone for the first time.
Served 4,454,745 meals through 2020 – a staggering 227% increase from 2019.
2020
2023
Rescued one million pounds of food in a single month for the first time.
Provided nearly 6.9+ million meals and rescued over 15.3+ million pounds of food throughout 2024 – the most in our organization’s history.
2024
Opened our new North Warehouse, serving as the permanent home for our Community Distribution program which marked five years of service.
Launched the Nourishment Network, a community of monthly supporters.