Food Shelves are Essential for Families in our Community

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American Indian Youth Enrichment students performing a traditional dance at the Family Drum and Dance Exhibition this summer.

By Randi Ilyse Roth, Executive Director

Empty Bowls is an international grassroots effort to raise both money and awareness in the fight to end hunger. Interfaith Action’s Empty Bowls event will be the evening of Thursday, March 23. Events like ours are happening all over the world.

Our local Empty Bowls event is organized to support the food shelf of the Department of Indian Work, a program of Interfaith Action. Our original food shelf was a small area of our building’s lower level surrounded by chicken wire. Today, we have a brightly lit, well-organized, modern food shelf that includes freezers, crispers, and shopping carts that allow people to shop with dignity for the foods they desire. Our food shelf is cost-effective and efficient.

We also focus on having healthy and culturally-appropriate food options for our American Indian neighbors. Our diabetes educator, Yeoun-Jee Pine, sets up cooking demonstrations regularly for our clients to highlight some particularly healthy and delicious options using food from the food shelf. Last year, 2,141 individuals used our food shelf, and we distributed 69,095 pounds of food.

In addition to providing food to our clients, we also provide referrals and connections to the other valuable services. All of our clients have the opportunity to participate in our Bridges to Benefits program, which assesses the clients’ eligibility for public benefits. Our work demonstrates our conviction to assist with meeting both immediate and long-term needs.

Please join us at the March 23 Empty Bowls event. Every dollar we raise makes a difference, particularly in March when Minnesota FoodShare March Campaign matches each contribution.

Event Details

  • Thursday, March 23
    4:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
  • Location
    Interfaith Action’s Department of Indian Work
    1671 Summit Avenue, Saint Paul, MN 55105 (See Map)
  • Schedule
    Music by Twin Cities Mobile Jazz and Food Shelf Tours begin at 4:30
    Delicious homemade soup at 5:00 by Chef Austin Bartolo
    Keynote presentation at 6:00 by Douglas Mashek, Ph.D.
  • Tickets
    $20 Adult $5 Children 12 and under
    Click here to purchase tickets

We are so grateful for your support throughout the year and hope you can join us at Empty Bowls. Come be part of a movement in communities throughout the world to fight hunger, and make our Department of Indian Work’s essential services available to our local community.

Warm Regards,

Randi Ilyse Roth
Executive Director