Before 1976, Hennepin County foodshelves struggled to keep their doors open from one week to the next. These foodshelves, often small in size and limited in their infrastructure and staff support, frequently experienced either an abundance or shortage of food. This “see-saw” existence made it difficult for them to consistently serve the community. Often they were forced to shut their doors (sometimes temporarily, sometimes permanently) because they did not have enough food to give to those in need. This, in turn, caused the other foodshelves to be flooded with visits and requests for food. With no system in place for either sharing resources or securing enough contributions from the community, Hennepin County Foodshelves were not able to fully address the needs of those facing hunger in their respective neighborhoods.
So, with great hope and vision, fifteen Twin Cities foodshelves banded together in 1976 to create the Hennepin County Emergency Foodshelves (HCEFS) organization. Their goal was simple: Allocate and distribute food to foodshelves based on their local neighborhood need and demographics. Securing a small, rented classroom inside the Sabathani Community Center in South Minneapolis, the HCEFS organization set out to change the way hunger was addressed in the community. From the moment it was created, the HCEFS organization was able to help each foodshelf in the network collectively reap the benefits of sharing community food and financial donations.
Despite no paid staff, the organization’s “all for one, one for all” philosophy worked soundly. A delegate from each of the 15 foodshelves served on the HCEFS founding board of directors. Most significantly, the board adopted minimum standards of service requiring foodshelves to be open at least 12 hours per week and distribute a minimum of 15 pounds of quality food per person (enough to last 3-4 days) at no charge. These standards are still in effect today.
In the beginning, HCEFS didn’t own delivery trucks, so board members and foodshelf volunteers transported food in their cars. Pat Kerrigan, currently EFN’s Transportation Coordinator, interned with HCEFS from 1981 to 1983. “Board members would pick up food and bring it to meetings and hand it off to board members from other shelves. If we collected food at an event, it piled up in our little office until someone from an agency could pick it up. We didn’t have a warehouse yet, so local grocery stores helped store and package up food for us!”
Around 1983, the United Way granted HCEFS funding for staff and equipment. The organization purchased its first truck and hired three full-time staff, including Kerrigan, one driver, and an executive coordinator, Sarah Burton Marshall.
The new delivery truck and staff allowed HCEFS to grow rapidly. The organization was now able to more consistently and efficiently distribute community food donations at no charge. It also allowed for the expansion of the organization’s bulk-food purchasing program. (Before HCEFS, foodshelf volunteers supplemented donated food with food purchased at full price from retail grocery stores. To help foodshelves save money, HCEFS began purchasing quality food staples in bulk, at prices significantly below retail, and passing these savings on to agencies with no margin or mark-up). In addition to delivering community food donations to agencies free of charge, HCEFS also delivered bulk-food orders to them for free. Since then, bulk purchasing has remained a key component of the organization’s guiding principles and continues to be a core benefit to agencies in the network.