Mankato Free Press (February 25, 2025) — When most people think of food shelves, they think of canned and dry goods.
That’s old school. What’s looming in the future is a walk-in freezer full of fresh food, said ECHO Food Shelf manager Deisy De Leon Esqueda. It’s all thanks to a $200,000 grant the food shelf received in November from the Mankato Area Foundation.
“One of the things we see with the families who come to the food shelf is yes, they’re grateful for the cans and for those dry goods but they’re also looking for perishable items,” she said. “This grant is going to allow us to provide fresh produce, frozen and dairy. It’s going to provide healthier options and increase the wellness of our community as well.”
The $200,000 that ECHO received was a Taylor Family Farms Foundation donation managed by the Mankato Area Foundation. A second $100,000 grant was awarded at the same time to the Region Nine Development Commission, for help implementing and coordinating a regional effort to rescue surplus food for food shelves.
Both grants address regional food insecurity as it’s worsening in our community. Asked how serious food insecurity is in the region, Ashley Eimer of Mankato Area Foundation said, “very.”
“We want to see the need decrease and it’s just not happening,” the Foundation vice president said.
ECHO is serving 500 people a day, which is up from roughly 300 a year ago, Esqueda said.
At Region Nine, it was just announced that their $100,000 in funding is going toward the hiring of a regional food rescue coordinator. Tom Polich will join the Commission on Monday.
“Regional partners identified this coordinator position as a key tactic to rescue additional food across the region,” said Sabri Fair, Region Nine environment and sustainability planner. “In this role, Tom will directly support food access partners, food distributors and food manufacturers to ensure that extra food in our region is reaching communities in need.”
This will include writing grants for infrastructure improvements, helping unload and distribute food, and building and maintaining relationships across the region, Fair said.
They are also drafting a regional food rescue plan, which they’ll publish in March.
For next steps, Fair said, “We have some ideas.” They’ll find out who needs more freezer and fridge space, and create partnerships with food trucking companies, food distributors and food manufacturers. The regional food rescue plan is a guidebook for new hire Polich.
Natasha Frost is the owner of Wooden Spoon and leads the work on behalf of South Central Minnesota Food Recovery.
Frost said she’s pleased with the $300,000 grant money given to ECHO Food Shelf and Region Nine Development Commission. South Central contracts with Wooden Spoon to ensure they have the people power to receive donations, a variety of ready-made meals, and volunteer supervision to process produce and package food.
“We are extremely excited for the local investment into the network of food recovery,” Frost said of the $300,000 in grant funds. “The investment will benefit the food recovery operation that we lead because more money toward the effort helps us all.”
At Grace Lutheran Church in Mankato, staff and volunteers have been a part of the community’s food recovery work by turning recovered food into meals and distributing them to those in need.
In 2024, Grace staff and volunteers made and distributed more than 10,000 meals. Most of those meals, said Grace Lutheran Rev. John Odegard, were chicken burritos recovered with the help of ECHO, South Central Minnesota Food Recovery and the Wooden Spoon.
“When you add in the work of our partners in this, that’s a significant difference in our community,” Odegard said. “All of this work is happening because there’s a lot of people committed to it. I think that’s a really wonderful thing about Mankato is that so many organizations can work together to make sure our neighbors are fed.
“We’re working with a half dozen organizations and I’m sure those partners are working with even more. I think that speaks to the kind of community we have here in Mankato.”
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The grants awarded by the Mankato Area Foundation were supported by a generous donation from Glen A. Taylor through the Taylor Family Farms Foundation.