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Friends in Need Food Shelf expands, goes to grocery store model in Washington County
The move to a larger building is meant to accommodate "clients' choice" shopping. 

STAR TRIBUNE ARTICLE - Sunday, October 2, 2016
By Kevin Giles, kgiles@startribune.com
Here’s what it takes to feed a family of thousands every month:
​
Several tons of food, 160 volunteers and a new 12,000-square-foot building where low-income clients can shop with dignity in a grocery store setting. Friends in Need Food Shelf in south Washington County has become one of the latest metro-area food shelves to adopt the “clients’ choice” model, where they make their own decisions in aisles stocked with everything from soup to nuts.

“That’s what the buzz in the food shelf world is, that it treats them with more respect,” said Michelle Rageth, the Friends in Need executive director.

The new food shelf building opened in May in the small commercial district of St. Paul Park, not far from the old building where Friends in Need did business for 21 years. Funding included $250,000 from Western Refining for a down payment on the $1.4 million project, and several businesses donated labor and materials.
Every Tuesday and Wednesday, 160 families visit the food shelf to shop for groceries donated from several sources, including Second Harvest, major supermarkets, community gardens in Newport and St. Paul Park and Guardian Angels Catholic Church in Oakdale.

Volunteers stock shelves and manage the warehouse and freezer at the back of the building. “Our fresh produce is really a big thing for us,” Rageth said.

Clients come to shop every other week, Rageth said, because the organization wants to ensure that they get enough food to last an entire month. Some of them are jobless; many others, the working poor. Some are middle-class families experiencing a sudden loss of employment or other life-altering events.

​“It’s the new clients who have a tough time, and the middle class,” said Rageth, who’s been executive director for 18 years. “It’s just getting them in the door that’s hard because there’s a stigma to it.”

The spacious building includes offices where clients can receive assistance with other needs, such as MNsure, foreclosures and home goods, and those needing transportation can get a ride as well. Friends of Need also is looking for a company to donate snowplowing this winter.

Once clients enter the grocery aisles, they look for colored dots posted above each section that tell how much of one item they can take. Families, for example, will get more. Volunteers are available to help people with disabilities who want it.

​The grocery store approach is an emerging trend among food shelves statewide, said Jill Westfall of Hunger Solutions Minnesota. “Since food shelves operate independently, we sometimes don’t know they’ve changed to a client choice/grocery store model unless they tell us,” she said.

Through August, the food shelf served 17,325 people, including 165 new families. In 2015, the total number served was 29,362, including 313 new families. That’s declined from peak demand four years ago, which Rageth attributes to many more available post-recession jobs.

To qualify at Friends in Need, clients must already receive some type of financial assistance or fall within 200 percent of federal poverty guidelines, making it “very easy to qualify,” Rageth said. Clients also must live in St. Paul Park, Cottage Grove, Newport or Grey Cloud Island.

“If they call us and say they’re hungry, we’re always going to help them.”

Friends in Need Food Shelf
The food shelf serves residents of Cottage Grove, Newport, St. Paul Park and Grey Cloud Island. Prospective clients are asked to make appointments on Mondays, from noon to 3 p.m., at 651-458-0730.

How to help: Money is the preferred donation because “we can make it stretch 10 times more,” said Michelle Rageth, executive director. Volunteers are always needed, she said.

Coming up: Oktoberfest, a Friends in Need fundraiser, is scheduled for noon to 4 p.m. Oct. 16 at Historic Hope Glen Farm, 10276 E. Point Douglas Road S., Cottage Grove. Tickets are $10 for adults, $5 for children ages 4-12, and free for 3 and younger. The Holiday Train event in Cottage Grove on Dec. 9 also benefits Friends in Need.

​More information: Call 651-458-1787 or visit www.finfood.org.
Friends In Need volunteer Nancy Reckinger, happily packed up fruit and vegetables for a client at the food shelf in St. Paul Park.
 
​Photo by Elizabeth Flores
​It’s the new clients who have a tough time, and the middle class ... It’s just getting them in the door that’s hard because there’s a stigma to it.”
Feeding Families with Friends in Need Food Shelf
Food shelves such as Michelle Rageth’s tackle the big task of feeding families at Thanksgiving and throughout the year

​Quinton Skinner, Minnesota Monthly, October 2014
Michelle Rageth has been the executive director of the Friends in Need food shelf in St. Paul Park for 16 years. As the only full-time employee, she relies on volunteers to help distribute fresh produce, dairy, meat, and other groceries as well as toiletries and information about social services throughout the year. For those interested in contributing, she notes that cash donations to food banks result in obtaining up to 10 times as much food as canned-food drives.

“When I started, we were serving about 3,000 people a year. Last year, we served more than 34,000. At one point we had 30 volunteers, and now we have more than 160. Northern Tier Energy donates our building and pays our utilities—we doubled the size of our space six or seven years ago.”

​“There are more than 300 food shelves in Minnesota—enough that every single address in the state is covered. Seniors on a fixed income and those who are disabled are constant clients for us. And there are always the working poor, those who might not have enough education to advance at their jobs but who are working as hard as they can to try to support their families—but who need the extra help.”

​“So many people who lost jobs in the recent recession never thought they would have to use a food shelf. They come in and say, ‘We’ve always donated to you, we certainly don’t want to have to be here.’ We reassure them that they aren’t alone, and we also lead them to resources at other agencies they might not know about. Once the middle-class families come in, they often leave their appointment in tears or hugging us—and when they’re back on their feet, they can turn around and help others.”

“It’s easy to paint people with a broad brush, but one of the things we have to be careful about is not judging. One of our favorite clients is a convicted felon. He got caught up in something 20-some years ago as a teenager and made a big mistake. He served his time and now is hard-working and so grateful for every single thing he is given. He’s so humble and hugs us every single time he’s here, because he wasn’t able to hug anyone for so many years.”

“We have a Thanksgiving program run by two ladies whose mother started it 20 years ago, and now their daughters and children are helping out to pass it along to the next generation. We serve around 500 families every year, with each getting a huge box with a frozen turkey, stuffing, pumpkin pie, Cool Whip, five pounds of potatoes, cranberry sauce—the whole fixings. The National Guard goes to the back door of Cub, who we purchase from, and they bring it to our distribution site.”

“You won’t see the need for helping others if you’re in a vacuum, if you’re sitting at home thinking about what you don’t have or that you don’t like how people are treating you.”

​“I’m staying here, I’m not going anywhere—it’s just seeing the faces of people who know they’re going to be able to feed their family that night. And with our volunteers, who are the cream of the crop, you’re getting positive, friendly, giving people. Our volunteers can’t wait for their friends to retire so they can pull them into the fold and join them here.”
So many people who lost jobs in the recent recession never thought they would have to use a food shelf. They come in and say, ‘We’ve always donated to you, we certainly don’t want to have to be here.’ ​"