Well Run! Everyone is professional, options are clearly laid out. Everything was so Clean!read more

Dropped off a box of food products I'd received from a client. Quick, easy, and lovely. Writing…read morethis took at least thrice as long as the entire donation process did. RECIPIENTS: The place is clearly well-attended with several individuals and families in the waiting area awaiting their turn in the three entries per 15-minute arrangement, though everyone is free to take as long as they prefer once in the pantry. The pantry itself is spacious with shelves lining the walls of a large room, bustling with activity from shoppers seeking healthy fare. A mobility bus even stopped right in front of the pantry and assisted elderly attendees to the vehicle. From my understanding, they also operate a mobile food pantry truck. DONORS: The shelves could definitely be fuller especially given the level of activity they clearly see, so feel free to drop by with some gifts! Donations are weighed after separating perishables from non-perishables. The weights are then recorded onto a donation receipt, with a copy handed to the donor to go on their merry way through a separate door - which you should look for upon arriving if you're dropping off food, unlike me who unknowingly waltzed into the main area instead. It's a seemingly little thing, but dignity matters a great deal and is among the first things to feel compromised when dealing with difficult times, and it might not feel that great relying on food pantries for some individuals, so I greatly appreciate The Open Door going that extra mile to keep their recipients' sense of comfort in mind. Well done, team. Due to the nature of the environment, I only took a photo of the front for ease of identification for anyone wanting to find it. It's in a low-key plaza sitting at the foundation level of an apartment building behind the high-end shopping center in the area. Google Maps took me for a little spin, so keep your eyes open!

VEAP provides an incredibly necessary community service. I go to VEAP once a month to get food and…read morethey provide "an abundance of groceries" absolutely free. Fish fillets, ground beef, fruits, vegetables, grains, bread, canned foods, frozen foods, sauces, pastries, butter, even sometimes toilet paper, paper towels and napkins. I'm not sure how they've managed to grow to become such an inspirational and clearly imperative service to the community but having been here in Minnesota for more than 20 years may explain it in part. It also requires dedicated and responsible volunteers that work with a smile for everyone that comes through the door. I'd give VEAP 10 Stars or more if I could. We get between 15 and 30 full, well balanced meals for 2 people every month! As an aside, I don't believe any of VEAP's policies could be considered overreach and if you use VEAP and are amazed at what you get for free and feel that VEAP makes you feel deserving and proud, take the time to leave a review!

The individual who assisted me was amazing. She understood my needs and assisted with just that. I…read morehighly recommend their services!

I had a lot of fun volunteering at second harvest. They are very organized. It's a lot of physical…read morework, but you get a lot done for a worthy cause. I've done two shifts so far and there are a few different projects depending on their needs. So it's not the same thing every time.

Awesome experience! A perfect venue for a fun team building session or networking event for large…read moregroups, while simultaneously providing a service for our community. Location was inconvenient for me as it was a 45 minute drive, but the friendly and helpful staff, combined with their large and beautiful facilities made it worthwhile. Second Harvest Heartland was easy to work with. Their online reservation system made it easy to see which time slots could accommodate us. We were even able to use their large meeting room space to host a 2 hour lunch and networking event prior to our volunteering session. The large room included 2 screens for projecting presentations from your laptop, sound system with microphone and a strong and free WiFi. All of this was of great value to our group! As one of the leaders of Asian Professionals Alliance in MN (APAM), we brought together 70 volunteers from across APAM member companies: 3M, Best Buy, Cargill, General Mills, Medtronic, Target & US Bank. Not only was this venue large enough to accommodate our large group, they were so organized, gave us great instruction and constantly kept the workplace clean, comfortable. They had 6 computers at the entrance for each individual to register for the event. Half of our group boxed care packages for senior citizens while the other half worked to inspect and package 40 pound bags of potatoes for food shelves across the country. My favorite part is that they share the results of your volunteer efforts at the end of your shift. I would absolutely recommend this place for volunteering sessions - for individuals, small groups and large groups!

The Bloomington Lutheran Church is the site for once a month food pick up donations to stretch your…read morebudget You donate $25 per bundle in advance to get a time slot. Rubys Pantrycan be looked up on line for a site near you. They span several states and get food through corporate donors. It was well organized with traffic directors and people going to each car to check you in and put a post it on your windshield as to how many bundles you paid for. For $50. I got a trunk full of breads, milk, eggs, wraps, taco shells, whole grain bread,oranges, cookies, snack items, frappe mix, fresh tomatoes. Mashed potatoes. Potatoe salad, beef broth,yogurt bars, a jelly roll cake, whole grain bread and other items. Caring helpful volunteers who loaded cats. It was a humbling experience seeing people lined up for rows to be served.

Sheridan Story is AWESOME...and just renamed themselves Every Meal. Now they aren't named after a…read moreschool that's named after an awful old dead white guy. If you volunteer here, you will likely stand by a table and put canned goods in a bag and then push the bag down the line. That's what we did for 2 hours, and it was fun and fast and upbeat! We were in a large warehouse and the garage doors were open bc it was warm. But had the doors been closed, I would have felt Covid safe bc of the size of the room and our ability to distance and of course we all had masks on. Every Meal gives food to kids all over the metro. It's totally cool. I took my teen and little one. You have to be 8 to volunteer here but I think a lot of 8 year olds would not have the endurance for a 2 hour shift.

Had the opportunity to volunteer here a few days ago with SGAD who was celebrating their 15th…read morebirthday, so it was extra special. We were able to hear a bit about The Food Group's mission & how they operate. We packaged elbow macaroni which was pretty chill. The facility was clean & organized! I liked that the stations were spaced out a bit with 3-4 people at each station (which would vary depending on group sizes). Overall a great experience & would highly recommend as a place to volunteer! Very friendly staff!

From the owner: The Food Group is a local nonprofit focused on using nutritious food to strengthen community. We…read morework at the intersection of food access, equity, and nutrition issues related to food and hunger in 32 counties in Minnesota and Wisconsin. We break down barriers to growing good food locally and getting good food to those who need it most.

Terrible. The people at the desk are incredibly disrespectful, rude, and downright cruel. I have…read morebeen forced to rely on this food bank for a few years now and I have been mistreated and verbally abused by the front desk people multiple times just for asking questions. Their policies are cruel and unacceptable. You can't go back in even a minute after leaving even if the shelves were completely bare when you were in there and they restocked while you were putting stuff in your car. They heavily restrict how much you can take no matter how big your household is. They won't let you come twice in a week even if you got nothing the first time or the food became spoiled/stolen. They almost never have enough of anything. They have no options for people with specific dietary needs. They don't care about the people who are forced to rely on them. They are cruel. If you can afford to go to another town do so.

Are just horrible I went in with my one year old and husband and the lady at the front desk was…read morejust rude as hell yelling at everyone was mad because my daughter didn't have shoes and was laughing loud then went in to get food and couldn't even do that because they complained that people need to go in and out then they let people sit next to he freezers for hours we ended up waiting in the hall for our turn and the same people in next to the freezers where still in there when I came in I was in the hall for probably like 15 minutes and one person waiting next to the freezers didn't have anything other than what was coming out of the freezers and today it was pizza and they got all the pizza and no one else was able to grab any cause the second they heard it hit the shelves. they ran right for it and that was all they had, and even when I left, they were still standing there. I wasn't able to get anything for food. I got milk and vegetables and wasn't even unable to get enough of that.

Absolutely amazing! So many items and the volunteers are so helpful. Follow the guidelines given by…read morethe volunteers and you are able to shop for things you may need. There are also many other resources available through Kaitlyn for the state and county if you should need additional help or guidance.

At first this place was great and They had almost very thing for baby equipment, baby clothes, kids…read moreclothes, household items, and food.The mother and the daughter let's you go once's a month for 3 times for 3 months between and the process starts all over again. Today, there was a "Big Problem" with the mother and the daughter that these people are so called church people, but they are very rude to people's children, disrespectful, discrimination, picky, two-faced and etc. These women kicked me and my friend out with our kids when we were leaving the parking lot to come back another month that we do need help for our families. The first reason was my 11 year old daughter was climbing on the shelves and sitting on the baby stuff which was bad and I told her not to do that and they gave us a warning ! So I didn't bring my daughter back. The big reason why they kicked me and my friend was over a stupid reason because my friend 2 year old daughter drop Tick Tacks on the cart and floor, which my friend picked it up and possibly missed one or two or smooshed because she wears glasses/contacts because she cannot see that well! I had my 6 year old son on the phone the whole time so he can be quiet/good, but that still did not make a difference for the mom and the daughter. I didn't do anything wrong, but I still got kicked out! Sorry to say but I hopekarma or God will punish them for their stupidity actions to turn their backs for people in need. I had a gut feeling/bad vibes about the mother and the daughter, these 2 ladies are two-faced/picky people!! I also think that they were discriminating me and my friend and we are white ladies with mixed kids! I want people to know, to watch your back when you go there or just don't go! As a good person would say "I hope if anybody is reading this, please pray for theses awful ladies!"