The Open Door - Food Shelf

What we do:

The Open Door’s mission is “a fresh approach to ending local hunger through access to health food”.

The Open Door is celebrating its 17^th Anniversary this year as a nonprofit organization supporting low-income residents through access to fresh and healthy food. Each month, our collective programs serve more than 25,000 people and distribute nearly 5.5 million pounds of food annually, nearly 70% of which is fresh and/or perishable. Clients may access nutritious food options through a fixed-site food pantry in Eagan, 36 Mobile Pantry sites, the Mobile Lunchbox, and the Partner Pick-up program. Through our healthy food focus and innovative programs, we have sought to redefine how our sector approaches hunger relief. We view hunger through a community-health lens, and work to help our clients improve access to nutritious food in an equitable manner.

YOUR DONATIONS AT WORK:

$100.00 provides 2 weeks of groceries for three families. 

$50.00 provides milk for 50 Families.

$30.00 provides eggs for 30 Families.

The Open Door’s Innovative Programs:

The Eagan Pantry is a bricks-and-mortar site that provides milk, eggs, dairy, meat, chicken, fish, fruits and vegetables. Five days and two evenings a week, volunteers help clients make monthly appointments by phone and in person, meet with new food-shelf users, ensure that they know how to connect with other community food options and any needed social services, and help clients navigate the pantry and select food items based on the size and needs of each family. No food is pre-bagged for the client, and nearly 70 percent of the options are fresh and perishable.  

The Mobile Pantry The Open Door believes healthy food should be accessible to everyone. Through our Mobile Food program, we go all over the county to bring free food directly to the communities where people live. Every month we set up temporary Pop-Up Pantries and Pop-Up Produce markets at 36+ sites – including senior centers, mobile home communities, schools, and low-income apartment complexes. While many of our sites serve specific residential communities, we host four distributions that are open to the general public.

Mobile Lunch Box addresses children's hunger in the summertime, when they lose access to free and reduced-price meals at school. The Open Door distributes healthy brown-bagged lunches at low-income housing complexes, where children are encouraged to eat outdoors together and play games provided by volunteers. This summer, Mobile Lunch Box provided more than 25,000 meals directly to kids at 31 sites in low-income neighborhoods who otherwise would have gone without. 

Hunger in Dakota County:

• 100,000+ people in Dakota County are food insecure. 
• 1/3^rd of Dakota County residents have low access to food. 
• Urban areas: > 1 mile from grocery store
• Suburban areas: > 10 miles from grocery store
• 1 out of 3 children eligible for free or reduced lunch nationwide now live in the suburbs.
• Minimum wage = needing to work 75 hours/week to afford a two bedroom apartment in Dakota County.
• For the first time in history there are more people in poverty in the suburbs than in the urban core. 
• Senior visits to food shelves in Dakota County are up
  
  

YOUR DONATIONS AT WORK:

$100.00 provides 1 week of groceries for three families. 

$50.00 provides milk for 30 Families.

$30.00 provides eggs for 30 Families.