With expanded services and increased operational efficiency, EFN quickly outgrew the St. Louis Park facility. “We were growing so quickly that we had to turn down large food donations because we didn’t having enough warehouse space to store all the food,” says Tim Barnes. In 2002, EFN purchased another warehouse building in Burnsville, Minnesota. The building, which served as a back-up warehouse to the St. Louis Park facility, gave EFN an additional 25,840 square feet with which to operate. Staff wasted little time filling it up.
Within one month of purchasing the Burnsville building, EFN completed its acquisition of the Fare For All organization. Fare For All, created by the Ramsey Action Program in 1986, is budget-stretching food program where low-income individuals, working families and seniors could buy various food packages at up to 50% off retail prices. Although Fare for All was struggling to stay afloat when EFN took it over, EFN foresaw the program’s great potential to serve Minnesotans and the opportunity to address hunger relief needs statewide. “We revamped the program and cut the expenses in half,” says Karen DeClouet, EFN Programs Manager.
In 2003, EFN seized on an opportunity that made it one of the most progressive nonprofit organizations in the country: it purchased a for-profit corporation called Tana Foods. This social enterprise (any earned-income business or strategy undertaken by a nonprofit to generate revenue in support of its charitable mission) helped EFN achieve new programmatic, financial and strategic efficiencies in support of its member agencies. The Tana Foods company bought bulk food at deeply discounted prices and sold it to EFN for a small profit, a portion of which was donated back to EFN through food and cash donations. Also, Tana Foods, as a for-profit business, gave EFN access to a wider variety of products and buying opportunities that non-profits do not have. “As the purchasing arm of EFN, Tana Foods has been able to open up doors to new buying opportunities and vendors that were once closed off to our nonprofit organization.”
In 2004, EFN consolidated its operations by vacating both the St. Louis Park and Burnsville buildings and moving into a 65,000 square foot office/warehouse facility in New Hope, Minnesota. The New Hope site amply housed all of EFN’s programs and allowed for the addition of more programs. That same year, EFN acquired the All Seasons Food Rescue (ASFR) Program. This program brought the important component of food rescue to EFN’s growing family of programs. Using refrigerated trucks, EFN could safely collect and efficiently distribute prepared and perishable foods to hunger relief programs. “ASFR fit very well with our operating philosophy and desire to provide well-balanced meals to those facing hunger,” says Barnes.
In mid-2005, EFN saw an opportunity to utilize the organization’s vast resources to reduce hunger during the winter holiday season (when client need is usually highest). During the 2005 holidays, EFN launched its newest program, Baskets of Hope, to provide traditional holiday meals for free to those who could not otherwise afford it. In its inaugural year, the program provided baskets to over 2,000 households and demonstrated EFN’s continued success at reducing hunger in all seasons of the year.
Poised to meet the growing trend of suburban poverty in the Twin Cities and maintain its commitment to quality, value and efficiency for its members, EFN and its family of programs began its 30th year of operation in 2006. During the summer of that year, EFN created a new organization tagline for the first time since 1996. The new tagline, “Minnesota’s Free Food Bank” was unveiled in EFN’s summer newsletter. “The new tagline reflected our guiding principles and all of the expansion and progress we achieved in our first 30 years,” says Marc Ratner, EFN’s Marketing & Development Manager.
As the face of hunger continues to become more reflective of all cultures in our community, EFN stands ready to work with current and new stakeholders to put the needs of those facing hunger first. “It’s always been service and helping people out of crisis,” says Tim Barnes. “Our staff would give you the shirt off their back and we are all proud to lead the organization forward into its next 30 years of growth.”