1976 – The Hennepin County Emergency Food Shelves (HCEFS) Organization incorporates in the state of Minnesota.
1977 – HCEFS begins distributing emergency food to 15 “member” agencies. Its main office is a rented classroom on the first floor of the Sabathani Community Center in South Minneapolis.
1983 – HCEFS receives financial support from the United Way to make operating and infrastructure improvements including the three staff and the purchase of one truck to collect and distribute food.
1984 – HCEFS expands its food drive and bulk purchasing programs
1986 – HCEFS changes its name to the Emergency Foodshelf Network (EFN) 
1987 – EFN creates a new logo and organization tagline. (Pictured above/below)
1990 – John Mitchell is hired as a driver in the Transportation Dept. (He receives numerous promotions to eventually become head of the department - a position he still occupies today – making him the longest-tenured employee in the organization’s history.)
1991 – EFN begins providing culturally specific foods for its member agencies
1992 - EFN purchases its first building in Northeast Minneapolis. It has an office, conference room, and a warehouse with one dock door for deliveries.
1993 – Board of Directors undergoes a two-year restructuring process resulting in a mandate that 2/3 of the board members represent community businesses and social service organizations. Previously, all board members represented network agencies.
1996 – EFN expands its services outside Hennepin County for the first time.
1996 – Organization assets reach $1,000,000 for the first time.
1997 – The number of members in the EFN network grows to 25.
1998 - EFN purchases its St. Louis Park, Minnesota building.
1998 – EFN collectively provides its member agencies an estimated $1,000,000 in benefits and savings through a variety of services (including the delivery of food at no charge and the opportunity to purchase foods in bulk at below retail prices).
1998 – EFN begins its partnership with the Downtown Council of Minneapolis as the charity host of the Holidazzle Parade.
1999 – EFN begins delivering quality food staples to area subsidized housing complexes through a new program called High Rise.
2002 - EFN purchases a warehouse in Burnsville, Minnesota to accommodate food inventory overflows.
2002 – EFN acquires the Fare For All organization from Ramsey Action Program (RAP).
2003 – EFN and Rainbow Foods launch “The Rainbow Initiative,” a joint promotion aimed at increasing the amount of free food distributed to foodshelves located in communities where Rainbow stores operate.
2002 – EFN acquires the Fare For All organization from Ramsey Action Program (RAP).
2003 – EFN and Rainbow Foods launch “The Rainbow Initiative,” a joint promotion aimed at increasing the amount of free food distributed to foodshelves located in communities where Rainbow stores operate. In its first year, the promotion collects over 275,000 lbs of food donated by Rainbow customers with the first 100,000 lbs matched by EFN.
2003 – As part of its long-term strategy, EFN purchases Tana Foods, a social enterprise venture.
2004 – EFN acquires the All Seasons Food Rescue program, creating opportunities to safely collect and redistribute prepared and perishable foods and reduce unnecessary food waste.
2004 - EFN purchases a 65,000 square-foot office/warehouse facility in New Hope, Minnesota.
2004 – EFN expands community partnership with Gold’n Plump Poultry launching Click’n Feed, an interactive, cost-free web campaign to reduce hunger. The promotion exceeds all expectations with over 125,000 clicks registered worldwide on www.emergencyfoodshelf.org.
2005 – EFN continues to expand its partnership with Rainbow Foods creating Give Food Give Hope, a yearlong effort to raise an unprecedented 400,000 pounds of donated food from Rainbow stores. (It raised over 450,000 pounds.)
2005 – EFN creates Baskets of Hope, a seasonal food program that distributes holiday meals at no charge to households that cannot afford to purchase one.
2006 – EFN unveils its new tagline: “Minnesota’s Free Food Bank”
2004--Foodshelf support and operations become web based - Clientbase moves from desktop Access to Clientbase online – online ordering is launched
2005--Begin partnership with Hennepin County to distribute Somali Food Packs – program reaches 300 households a month.
2005--Baskets of Hope is launched and distributes 2,200 holiday meals. Key support is provided by Fox 9 KMSP phone banks.
2006--Launch Harvest for the Hungry – planning for donations in 2007 – 5 original Community Supported Agriculture farms join the program.
2007 --Launch pilot of 3 Fare For All Express sites – initial funding from United Way as a pilot project. First 3 sites (North Point, Waite House, and Neighborhood House) set goal of distributing a minimum of 50 packages at each distribution.
2007--Launch African Food Program. First few distributions serve an average of 75 households.
2007--Initial pilot of The Lost Harvest delivers the first truckloads of fresh produce.
2007--Expand Harvest for the Hungry – support from Wedge Community Coop members.
2008--EFN builds a food safety certified food repackaging room – expanding capacity to accept and repackage nutritious bulk food – cereal, rice, beans, pasta, etc.
2008--Partner with Blue Cross Blue Shield to launch the Healthy Eating Pilot Project
2008--Establish Healthy Foods Policies
2008--Launch Lost Harvest – with support from United Way, Ameriprise, G & K Services, Blue Cross and Blue Shield – Center for Prevention. In its 2008-2009 full program year – Lost Harvest distributes 1.2 million pounds of rescued produce – providing member programs and clients with food that might otherwise been out of reach at its value of $4.2 million.
2008--Expand Fare For All Express from original 10 sites to 20 sites. Participation increased from an average of 1,300 to an average of 2,500 participants in 2008.
2009--Launch Healthy Body Healthy Budget – funding and partnership from the Minnesota Food and Nutrition Network. HBHB partners with foodshelves, churches, community and housing centers to offer nutrition and budget education classes to low income groups. Hands on activities help participants identify ways to stretch their limited budgets and improve the nutritional quality of the food they prepare and buy.
2009--Fare For All Express expands to offer 23 monthly distributions. In November, Express has biggest month ever –distributing nearly 6,000 food packages.
2009--Launch Pack it Up – financial support from Cargill and General Mills Champions for Healthy Kids.
2009--African Food Program now includes East and West African participants. Each month the program serves at least 600 households.