Let’s just get a few issues taken care of up front…
Getting help from a food shelf might have some stigmas surrounding it. Something like people aren’t working hard enough, or people are abusing the system, or they don’t really need it… Well, after volunteering at my church’s food shelf for a while I can assure you that the people using the food shelf services are just like ALL OF US. And ALL OF US deserve to be treated with dignity and respect. K, I’m hopping off my soap box now 😉

Stocked and ready to go!

I am pumped for the increased access to good food for our neighbors on the East Side of Saint Paul.

Merrick Community Services has opened a SECOND East Side food shelf location in order to bring more food to more people! That goal of more evenly distributed, healthy food options is what drives Samantha Soriano, Merrick Food Shelf Manager.

Samantha invites you to the Dedication and Open House of their new location this Saturday, September 23! The Theme is “Putting Down Roots” and you know I love that 🙂 There will be food from local East Side food trucks and restaurants, games, inflatables, activities, tours of the new food shelf, all coinciding with the Block Party hosted by the church they are housed within, Gustavus Adolphus Lutheran Church.

This is going to be a great time, and an eye opening way to understand the impact Merrick continues to have on their neighbors.

The parent organization has been around for a while, 1908 to be exact. Currently, Merrick Community Services encompasses five main branches of service: The Food Shelf, Family Services, Youth Services, Senior Services, and Employment Services. There is a lot going on in, and so much good being done by their 19 employees. Offering different facets of service under one organization better serves the individual; it allows for a synergy and truly lifts people higher, faster, steadier.

New cooler and freezer storage, with glass fronts make a big difference!

The Food shelf serves about 150 families each week during normal distribution hours, leading to about 600 each month. Once you add in the special produce distributions, it’s around 750. They typically give out anywhere from 3,250 to 4,000 pounds of food each day at our regular distributions.

Merrick Food Shelves are on track to give out about 600,000 pounds of food in 2017!

The Senior Services houses the Meals on Wheels Program, serving around 80 people every week. (Think how much e each meal means to each person every time they receive one!) The Employment Services division is getting an upgraded computer lab to help with both searching for jobs, and computer training. Until now they worked out of two different buildings; the food shelf and senior services out of Woodland Hills Church. The family, youth and employment services divisions worked out of another East Side location.

Some of the Woodland Hills Church volunteers.

Like so many of the best things in life, I found the Merrick Food shelf when I got curious. I wondered where that bag of food I brought in for our church food drives ended up. I didn’t even know exactly where in our church the food shelf was located (granted, our church is a converted home improvement store and rather sprawling, but still). I took the first step, and called the number. Samantha, the manager answered. I asked. I signed up for one time to volunteer. Almost a year later, it’s part of my (as much as I have one) routine- and the cliché is true; what I get out of volunteering FAR outweighs anything I give to it.

Samantha gets a lot out of her position as well, “I see the mix of managerial duties and building relationships with participants a blend of the best of both worlds.” She listens to stories (because she’s one of those people who listens well) about not being able to accept an entire month’s food all at once because of homelessness, or transportation limits and sees so many ways to improve services.

Samantha all smiles at the new intake station.

The current model of service (as in almost all food shelves) allows participants one visit per calendar month and doesn’t address the issue of homelessness. Samantha also hopes to expand services to mobile food distribution for those that are homebound; mainly the elderly and disabled in our communities.

Merrick partners with Second Harvest Heartland during the growing season to bring neighbors ‘fresh produce distributions’ a la “Pop up Farmers Market” style. This is a fabulous way to get more fresh produce into the hands of locals! You know I love this, and having been to the White Bear Lake version of these produce distributions, I can say the food is really fresh, really appreciated and really gone by the end of the time.

The last scheduled Fresh Produce Distribution is set for 10am on Oct. 14th at the Woodland Hills location. These are AWESOME & open to all!
Bonus: These produce distributions do NOT count towards a participant’s monthly visit.

Jesse and Quentin happy with the new layout and location!

Volunteer coordinator, Quentin West works with roughly 50 volunteers any given month- not counting the big groups that come through. “No matter what your skills or abilities, we have a place for you here”, he states with confidence and a smile that welcomes. There are so many aspects to keeping the food shelf up and running; from behind the scenes cleaning and stocking, food pick up and delivery, data entry to direct customer service and making sure the food distribution times run smoothly. You try and keep 50 different people happy and coming back each month 😉 These food shelves are run on volunteer power, and Quentin seems to know how to fuel up the volunteers!

I’ll go ahead and restate this truth here, “You get more out of volunteering than you put into it!”

I get to help during food distributions and love the variety of people I meet (other volunteers included) and conversations I have each time I’m there. I want to give a shout out to all the Boy/Girl scout troops and other groups that are looking for service hours; even if this isn’t your neighborhood, give either of the Merrick food shelves a thought for your volunteer hours; it’s amazing how much more of an impact your time can make in a community that might need a little bigger boost than your own.

Jesse tending some of the Woodland Hills raised bed gardens. Beautiful Basil!

Logistics coordinator, Jesse Edgington, came to Merrick from the grocery Co-op world. This puts him in a singular position to notice the juxtaposition of wealth and struggle in our food system. Most of the people shopping at the Co-op could afford to purchase the higher end foods without any sacrifice, while the farmers providing the local, organic, small batch foods were often closer to the struggle side of the economic scales. At the food shelf now, he sees these same foods a little closer to their expiration dates (along with lots of other food) having the ability to help others who are struggling. Jesse told me “regardless of where you are at in the food stream, there is so much waste. There is so much abundance built into the system, trying to be resourceful with the waste stream is my most interesting challenge.”

One of the urban farm plots the Jesse and Anna use to grow food.

One way he’s tackling the food stream head on is farming specifically for the Food Shelf participants. One of my first Forks in the Dirt articles was on Jesse and his partner, Anna in “Farming for a Food Shelf”. I can report their crops are always appreciated, and go fast on distribution day. Another innovative step forward for feeding our neighbors!

Pickup & Delivery Coordinator, Ken Hulbert, also does lots of figuring for the best use of vehicles and people power. I don’t get to see him during my volunteer time tho… guess there’s always more to learn!

Samantha’s all smiles at the new intake station!

In my elementary understanding of the food shelf system, it seems that too often your address dictates your access to food. Meaning Food shelves located in wealthier areas can support buying in more food, (because they having more donations coming in) and not taking some of the hand me downs. This is unjust. I’m so thankful there are people working hard to bring balance to the tipped scales.

I’m grateful I get be a small part of the process of getting food into the hands of those who need and deserve it. Maybe you want to grow that feeling in yourself too? I know a guy who’d love to hear from you, Send an email, see what sprouts 🙂

And don’t forget to check out the Open House this Saturday, Sept 23, 11-3!

Go ahead, Dig In!

Michelle