2022 has been a busy year for us! Open Cupboard and Today's Harvest have become the most-visited food shelves in Minnesota. So thank you volunteers!
We need your help!
We will have an extra Drive-Up distribution to help alleviate some pressure from our closing on the 22nd and 23rd.
We are planning to have an extra Drive-Up distribution on Tuesday, 12/27, from 2:00 pm to 5:00 pm.
The forecast is much warmer that day! If you are available on Tuesday, we would love to have your help! We need volunteers to help pack produce bags in the morning, as well as a team to help load cars during Drive-Up.
2022 is almost over, but it has been an incredible year. None of the amazing things we have accomplished would be possible without our dedicated volunteers. On behalf of Open Cupboard and all of the community members we serve - thank you.
We have grown so much over the last year, and with your help, we have been able to keep up and meet the increasing need in our community. Your generosity and dedication to feeding your neighbors have helped us serve over 4,000 families every week, ensuring that they have fresh and healthy food on the table all year.
So far this year, we've had more than 630,000 people visit our programs, and we are on track to distribute more than 5 million pounds of food this year. Open Cupboard and Today's Harvest have become the most-visited food shelves in Minnesota!
I want to say a HUGE thank you to every single one of the amazing volunteers who show up and make this possible every day!
Check out the video below to learn more about Open Cupboard and hear about our impact from some of our shoppers. Feel free to show it off to your friends and family so they can see the hard work you do for our community!
Volunteers' Favorite Moments of 2022
So much has changed to Open Cupboard since the start of 2022 (including our name!) Here are a few volunteers' favorite memories of 2022.
"One of our clients brought me her homemade banana bread. We’ve developed a great rapport and she is so thankful for the food. It’s wonderful To connect with the clients to brighten their day." -Janeen, Intake Volunteer "The name change to Open Cupboard. The commitment to inclusiveness meant a lot to me. As a Jewish woman, I know how it feels to be excluded or to worry that you don't belong. In fact, when I signed up to volunteer when it was CCEFS, I asked if it was okay that I wasn't Christian as I wasn't sure. The name gave me pause as I have felt uncomfortable at other places when there was a religious component. I don't think it is a coincidence that the number of people served has increased since the name change. It's hard to explain how much inclusiveness means if you have never experienced it. But trust me, it matters." -Beth, Open Cupboard Friday Prep Volunteer
"Working together and knowing the relief our efforts can bring to people." -Teresa, Today's Harvest Market Prep Volunteer
"Seeing an article on one of the local TV news shows introducing me to CCEFS. Then, taking action to become a part of it by volunteering." -Anthony, Today's Harvest Volunteer
New Today's Harvest Policies
We have officially implemented some new Today's Harvest policies. If you were unable to make an in-person Market Assistant training, you could watch the video below to learn about the changes.
Our goal with Today's Harvest is to have a warm, welcoming, and dignified shopping experience for all. We need our shoppers to follow our guidelines so we'll have enough food for everyone, but it is also important that shoppers not feel they are being monitored and judged throughout their shopping experience.
Our new policies are designed to clarify roles and responsibilities. Since it is important that we have consistent communications and not to have volunteers feel they have to address difficult situations themselves, we are asking volunteers to rely on staff to handle any issues with customers who are not following our guidelines. With any issues, volunteers can use our "call button" or ask a staff member directly to address any situations as they arise.
Thursday Intake Volunteers
We are looking for some more Intake volunteers for Thursday's Drive-Up program. Intake volunteers will look up and add in new customers using our system, Pantry Soft. It is a fairly intuitive system and will require a short 15-minute training before your first shift. We will also have another Intaker help shadow you for the first couple of families if you have any questions.
Tuc is taking a well-deserved vacation at the beginning of January, and Eric will be doing the food rescue for Today's Harvest Oakdale North. To help with the food rescue for Today's Harvest Oakdale South, one of our volunteers and board members, Tom, will be doing the route.
With the amount of food we get, Tom would like some help in the morning picking up and off-loading the food rescue on January 10th, 12th, and 13th. The volunteer would meet Tom at Open Cupboard at 8:00 am and be prepared to ride with him until 11:00 am. If you are interested in helping, please let us know atvolunteer@opencupboard.org.
Baby, It's Cold Outside:
Drive-Up in the Minnesota Winter
It's times like these that have everyone questioning why we have decided to live in a land filled with ice and snow. But what really gets you is the freezing cold. With temperatures below 0, it is unsafe to be outside for extended periods of time, which means that we have to change how we do our Drive-Up program.
With cold weather, we move our Drive-Up program indoors--sort of. Like outside Drive-Up, there is produce, meat, milk, eggs/cheese, bakery, and dry goods, except these stations, are all in our backroom in a half circle. With a shopping cart, a volunteer will grab each item and add it to the cart. Within each cart is enough food for one family. Intake will sit in our van and radio in how many families are in each vehicle. After that, the correct number of carts are brought out and loaded into the car. The volunteers and carts come back inside, and the process starts all over again.
One change with this model is that our choice rack is limited. Depending on the weather and the expected number of customers, the choice might consist of 4 items to choose from. If we expect a large number of families, we will include some "universal" choice items, like rice or oil, in each cart. We also might limit hours so that volunteers are not out in the dark and cold. With these changes, our main goal is to have volunteers outside for as little as possible.
Important Dates
December 24th-26th
Both sites closed for Christmas